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:

scout | frontier | freight | wagon train | female gunfighter | 

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Taglines:

Men of valor! Women of high courage! The Founders of the new American empire beyond the frowning Rockies! (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:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, 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?

Trivia

The 20 Zane Grey stories sold by Paramount to Favorite Films for theatrical re-release, and then to Unity Television Corporation for television broadcast are as follows: The Light of Western Stars/Winning the West (1930), Fighting Caravans/Blazing Arrows (1931), Heritage of the Desert/When the West Was Young (1932), The Mysterious Rider/The Fighting Phantom (1933), The Thundering Herd/Buffalo Stampede (1933), Man of the Forest/Challenge of the Frontier (1933), To the Last Man/Law of Vengeance (1933), Wagon Wheels/Caravans West (1934), Rocky Mountain Mystery/The Fighting Westerner (1935), Drift Fence/Texas Desperadoes (1936), Desert Gold/Desert Storm (1936), The Arizona Raiders/Bad Men of Arizona (1936), Arizona Mahoney/Arizona Thunderbolt (1936), Forlorn River/River of Destiny (1937), Thunder Trail/Thunder Pass (1937), Born to the West/Hell Town (1937), The Mysterious Rider/Mark of the Avenger (1938), Heritage of the Desert/Heritage of the Plains (1939), Knights of the Range/Bad Men of Nevada (1940), and The Light of Western Stars/Border Renegade (1940).

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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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Crazy Credits

Opening card: "In the days of the Civil War, the hard-won frontier country west of the Mississippi needed supplies. There were no railroads. Shipping had been tied up by the war. The burden of Transportation was taken up by trains of freight wagons - - Fighting Caravans banded together for the dangerous trip to California."

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Connections

Featured in Golden Saddles, Silver Spurs (2000)

User Reviews

Antique Western Worth Remembering

During the Civil War, FIGHTING CARAVANS of freight wagons make their way West, crossing hostile Indian country.

This sturdy Zane Grey Western, largely forgotten over the decades, offers some fine entertainment with its good performances and vivid location filming. The number of wagons, livestock and extras used show that Paramount Studios paid out a fair few pennies for decent production values. The dramatic struggles across the wilderness and a rousing Indian attack help punch up the action considerably.

Laconic Gary Cooper stars as the trail guide helping to lead the teamsters and settlers through dangerous territory. Hot-tempered Lili Damita plays a solitary French maiden driving her wagon West. Their intermittent romance is completely predictable, but the two young performers make it all very watchable.

Stealing their every scene are a pair of old pros from the Silent days: Ernest Torrence & Tully Marshall. Playing a couple of grizzled, drunken, women-hating trail guides--as well as Coop's best buddies--they are very amusing in their attempts to break-up the budding romance between their protégé and the troubling Miss Damita.

Rotund Eugene Palette is on hand as a lovelorn member of the wagon train. Charles Winninger enlivens the film's opening minutes as the blustery Marshal of Independence, Missouri.

Movie mavens will recognize sweet Jane Darwell as a pioneer and Iron Eyes Cody as a Fort Indian in search of firewater, both uncredited.