Fighting Caravans (1931)

A young frontier scout helps guide a freight wagon train across the country, fighting off Indians and evil traders, while his two crusty companions try and save him from falling in love.

Directors:

Otto Brower, David Burton

Writers:

Zane Grey (novel), Edward E. Paramore Jr. (screenplay),

Stars:

Gary Cooper, Lili Damita, Ernest Torrence

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Gary Cooper	...	Clint Belmet
Lili Damita	...	Felice (as Lily Damita)
Ernest Torrence	...	Bill Jackson
Tully Marshall	...	Jim Bridger
Fred Kohler	...	Lee Murdock
Eugene Pallette	...	Seth
Roy Stewart	...	Couch
May Boley	...	Jane
Eve Southern	...	Faith
Frank Campeau	...	Jeff Moffitt
Charles Winninger	...	Marshall
Frank Hagney	...	Renegade

Storyline

A young frontier scout helps guide a freight wagon train across the country, fighting off Indians and evil traders, while his two crusty companions try and save him from falling in love.

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Plot Keywords:

frontier | wagon train | freight | scout | love | 

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Taglines:

Battling the wrath of the elements; fighting the feathered fury of the redskins' suffering the tortures of desert heat - but living, loving, laughing like the truly heroic pioneers they were! (original poster)

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Genres:

Romance | Western

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 February 1931 (USA)

Also Known As:

Blazing Arrows

Filming Locations:

Sonoma, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min 81 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Bill Jackson: He ain't been himself for the last three days. I've been watching him pretty close. Yesterday, he only had eleven drinks.
Jim Bridger: And he's been a-working too. Doing things he don't have to do.
Bill Jackson: She's got him all right.
Jim Bridger: Let's get drunk!

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Connections

Referenced in No Limit (1931)

User Reviews

Fighting Caravans, Well Worth Seeing

Quick and amusing dialogue, fun characters, great location shooting, and high production values for the time, I was very happy to stumble upon this wonderful old film. I found it thoroughly entertaining.

Seeing the charismatic glow of a skinny young Gary Cooper makes me regret that he adopted such a dull and wooden persona later in his career.

A lot of the negative critiques of this film here seem to be based on superficial criticisms of the look and pacing of movies of this era, and not with the movie itself. If a movie is engaging, one soon gets used to the shortcomings of the time when early talkies were still finding their way with dialogue delivery and pacing. In fact, I thought they did a pretty good job here. While it is somewhat episodic, the performances are sensitive, and it does give us a rich and convincing glimpse of the wagon train era, even with the white man's simplistic perspective of Native American culture.