Zane Grey Movies

Another entry in Paramount's long-running "Zane Grey" series, Born to the West represented the first directorial effort of John Waters. The story concerns the lifelong rivalry between two men over the love of one woman. Most of the action takes place in Nevada during the Gold Rush, where trail boss "Colorado" Dale Rudd (Jack Holt) again confronts his longtime rival Bate Fillmore (Bruce Gordon), who has drifted to the opposite side of the law. Fillmore's father Jesse (George Siegmann) runs all illegal activities in the territory, meaning that Rudd is going to have a hard time rescuing his sweetheart Nell Worstall (Margaret Morris) from this dangerous environment. Born to the West was remade in 1937, with John Wayne and Johnny Mack Brown as Rudd and Fillmore -- whose good guy/bad guy roles were reversed for the occasion. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Zane Grey's 1925 story of the great Buffalo hunts became a sprawling silent Western produced by Paramount and starring the studio's stalwart Jack Holt as a trader who uncovers a scheme to blame the Indians for a Buffalo massacre. The film's highlight, a breathtaking shot of wagons careening across a frozen lake, was used again in the studio's equally fine 1933 remake. To match the old footage, director Henry Hathaway employed some of the same actors and stunt performers. The original Thundering Herd has gained the reputation, along with the same year's Wild Horse Mesa (also starring Holt), as the finest Grey adaptation ever produced. Both Tim McCoy and Gary Cooper earned bit parts in this epic Western filmed on locations at Lone Pine, California. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Veteran Western director William K. Howard does a solid job with this routine Zane Grey story. Jack Holt, Billie Dove, and Noah Beery Sr., who starred together in Wanderers of the Wasteland, appear together again. Madeline Hammond (Dove), the sister of ranchman Al Hammond (William Scott), arrives from the East. Gene Stewart, a rough and rowdy cowboy (Holt), convinces Madeline to marry him while he is on a drunken spree. Madeline sets out to reform him, and he sets out to rid their little section of the West of a band of outlaws. Stewart finds a formidable opponent in Brand, the bandit leader (Beery), who torments him, Madeline, and Hammond. Eventually the trio are rescued by a group of cowpunchers and Brand meets his end. This story was filmed twice more, in 1930 and 1940. Beery's son, Noah Beery Jr., had a supporting role in the 1940 version. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

First filmed by Fox in 1918 with William Farnum, Zane Grey's Riders of the Purple Sage became a typically lavish Tom Mix extravaganza, filmed on locations at picturesque Lone Pine, California. Mix plays Jim Lassiter, the bold Texas Ranger whose sister, Millie Erne (Beatrice Burnham), and her little daughter (Seesel Ann Johnson, later Marian Nixon) are abducted by a discredited lawyer, Lew Walters (future Charlie Chan Warner Oland). Dedicating his life to the recovery of his relatives, Lassiter takes the job of ramrod at the ranch belonging to Jane Withersteen (Mabel Ballin). From a captured outlaw, the former lawman learns that his prey has become a judge under the assumed name of Dyer. An enraged Lassiter marches into Judge Dyer's courtroom and shoots his long time enemy dead. A posse is formed and Lassiter and Withersteen are forced to flee. They find a hideout at a secret plateau reachable only through steps carved in the rock. To rid themselves of their pursuers once and for all, Lassiter blocks the entrance with a huge boulder, realizing full well that he and Jane will be trapped forever. Grey had written a sequel to his melodramatic saga, The Rainbow Trail, which Mix, like Farnum before him, also filmed. Both Riders of the Purple Sage and The Rainbow Trail were turned into vehicles for B-Western hero George O'Brien in 1931 and 1932 and Riders was filmed a third time ten years later starring George Montgomery. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

It seems like every word Zane Grey ever put to paper eventually wound up on screen during the silent days. Although there's a romance involved between Bebe Daniels and Lloyd Hughes in this Western, two of the era's finest character actors, Ernest Torrence and Noah Beery Sr. are really the whole show. The year is 1876 and Holderness (Beery), "tyrant of the desert" (according to the Moving Picture World review), is trying to force August Naab (Torrence) to sell his property -- there are water rights involved, of course. Naab's feisty daughter, Mescal (Daniels), has been pushed into a loveless marriage, and as she is trying to escape, she is captured by Holderness' men. Jack Hare (Hughes), a soldier of fortune from the East, was saved from dying in the desert by Naab, and he comes to Mescal's rescue. He and Naab round up a group of Indians and battle it out with Holderness' forces. Naab is victorious and Hare wins Mescal. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Based on Zane Grey's 1923 novel of two brothers, one an honest cowpoke, the other a gambler, this fine silent melodrama was produced by the Lasky company in two-strip Technicolor, a first for a Western. When Adam Larey (Jack Holt) confronts his younger brother Guerd (James Mason) about his gambling addiction, the latter is accidentally shot. A distraught Adam, believing he has killed his own brother, flees into the desert. He later learns that Guerd was merely wounded and returns to the loving arms of beautiful Billie Dove. Wanderer of the Wasteland was remade by Paramount in 1935 starring Dean Jagger and Monte Blue, and by RKO in 1945 starring James Warren and Harry Woods. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

As might be expected, director Victor Fleming, who always did well with outdoorsy material, deftly handles this adaptation of Zane Grey's novel. Glenn Kilbourne (Richard Dix) was gassed during the war. When he comes home to New York he discovers that his fiancée, Carley Burch (Lois Wilson), has not only fallen in with a jazzy, wealthy crowd -- she's one of their leaders. Kilbourne can't cope with this and he has a relapse. A doctor recommends that he go to Arizona to recuperate, but once he has been there for a while he falls in love with the place and becomes a rancher. Carley goes out to see him, but she's disgusted by the rough life and goes back to New York. After visiting a hospitalized friend of Kilbourne's, however, Carley realizes that she's a quitter and she returns to Arizona. It's not a moment too soon -- Kilbourne is about to marry Flo Hutter (Marjorie Daw), a rancher's daughter. Flo knows that Kilbourne still loves Carley, so she willingly gives him up and returns to Lee Stanton (Leonard Clapham), who has been patiently waiting for her. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi