Fred Thomson Movies

Silent western star Fred Thomson's second film for Paramount, The Pioneer Scout benefited from glorious locations in California's Mojave Desert. The story of a wagon train braving dangers on its trek to California was as old as the desert sand, however. Thomson plays the scout of the title, who romances a pretty lass along the way when not entering a race in the town of Last Chance or battling an evil saloon keeper (Tom Wilson) suspected of a series of fake Indian attacks. Thomson's horse, Silver King, plays a large role in the film, not only winning the Big Race for Thomson but also saving his master from Wilson's henchmen. Like many times before, the screenplay to this Thomson oater was provided by one Frank M. Clifton. Hiding behind the pen-name was none other than Thomson's wife, screenwriter Frances Marion. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

In his final film for poverty row company FBO, silent screen Western star Fred Thomson played a miner who finds himself swindled by an evil horse trader, Decker (J.P. McGowan). Having failed to corner the market in horses, Decker manages to arouse the local Indians led by Red Dog (Dan Peterson). Happily, Thomson and his wonder horse, Silver King, become wise to the schemes and save the town of Coldwater in the nick of time. Leaving his home of nearly four years, Thomson signed with more upmarket Paramount even before Arizona Nights had been released. Sadly, he died after an operation for gall stones, December 25, 1928, having only completed four Westerns for his new studio. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Throughout the '20s and '30s westerns were, for the most part, made cheaply and tossed out to the masses. Rare was the western star who made it to the big, major city movie houses. Those who made the leap were William S. Hart, Tom Mix, and with The Two-Gun Man, Fred Thomson. Thomson earned his stripes; he and his highly-trained horse, Silver King, had been working in the lower-budget field since the early '20s and had built an impressive fan base. In this feature, Thomson plays Dean Randall, a hero of the Great War who comes home to his horse and his father's ranch. He saves a family in a wagon train -- a father (William Courtwright), daughter Grace (Olive Hasbrough), and three orphan children. Back at the ranch, Dean discovers that his father (Joe Dowling) has been conned out of his cattle by rustlers. In addition, the rustlers have gotten a mortgage on the ranch and are threatening to evict the old man. The strain kills Dad Randall, but Grace convinces Dean not to take violent revenge. So he uses his wits instead (plus a lot of impressive stunts with Silver King) to get back the cattle and see that justice is served against the rustlers. This film, and the ones that followed it, showed a lot of promise for Thomson's future; sadly, his death in 1928 kept that promise from being fully realized.
~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

The first western produced by the newly established Fred Thomson unit at FBO, Ridin' the Wind was severely panned by critics, one of whom found the film to be "as connected as a jackrabbit's tail after being blown to pieces by a shotgun." The story was the old one about the honest rancher whose kid brother joins a gang of outlaws. Thomson's Jim Harkness goes after the masked bandits, capturing only brother Dick (Lewis Sargent), whom he admonishes to go straight. The stubborn kid refuses of course and doesn't repent until the gang captures brother Jim and his girlfriend May (Jacqueline Gadsdon). Thomson had earlier starred in a series of westerns produced by Monogram for release by FBO. Despite the lukewarm reception of this film, the star's first under a new contract with the company, Thomson managed to almost rival the king of the genre, Tom Mix, before his untimely death in 1928.The original story for this film was penned by one "Frank M. Clifton," the nom-de-plume of Thomson's wife, screenwriter Frances Marion. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

When old rancher Mark Ridgeway (Josef Swickard) passes away, his property goes to relatives in the East instead of to trusted foreman Tom Taylor (Fred Thomson) as promised. The relatives, Reginald (Taylor Graves) and his sister Marion (Hazel Keener), arrive to take over the ranch, and Tom quickly falls for the lovely Marion. The weak Reginald, on the other hand, sells his part of the property to evil Indian Joe Deerfoot (George Magrill), who then kidnaps Marion to get her share as well. The brave ranch foreman, however, has become wise to the situation and is soon in hot pursuit on his magnificent horse, Silver King. Photoplay Magazine dismissed this minor Thomson Western as "old as the hills." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Yet another streamlined little Fred Thomson Western, The Fighting Sap starred the former theologian as the disgraced son of a mine owner (Wilfred Lucas), who discovers a plot among the workers to defraud his father. Hazel Keener, who was to appear in a total of seven Thomson Westerns, played the heroine, George B. Williams was her father and Frank Hagney, Ralph Yearsley, and Bob Williamson took care of the skullduggery. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

An unscrupulous gang attempts to corner the wheat market in this low-budget but popular serial from Universal starring future cowboy ace Fred Thomson and intrepid veteran Ann Little. Little reportedly performed a couple of hair-raising stunts such as hanging on to the wing of an ascending airplane and leaping from one speeding automobile to another. Considering that famed stunt pilot Al Wilson appeared as the villain, Little was probably in fairly good hands. Financier Gregory Markham (Herbert Fortier) has in his possession a letter incriminating a gang, who promptly kidnap Miss Markham (Little), whom they keep in a subterranean cave. Enter Jack Alden (Thomson), who not only manages to rescue the damsel in distress but also saves the world from certain starvation. A newcomer to films, the handsome Thomson was the husband of screenwriter Frances Marion and went on to become perhaps Tom Mix's closest rival before dying at the young age of 37. Thomson was doubled by Al Wilson, Jack Fowler, and Cliff Bergere in The Eagle's Talons, his only serial. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

The real draw of this suspenseful drama was the yacht race and the motor boat chase, which included a hydroplane. No one cared much about the plot, but here it is anyway: Wealthy Lawrence Bradbury (a miscast Dustin Farnum) owns a transatlantic line which is being plagued by silk thieves. When he weds his fiancee, Constance (Ethel Gray Terry), he doesn't realize that her brother Ned (Maurice "Lefty" Flynn) is a detective who's on the case (as a matter of fact, the audience isn't apprised of this, either). Constance can't tell him because she is duty bound to keep Ned's profession secret. Bradbury comes to suspect that both his brother Jim (Fred Thomson) and Constance are part of the gang, but finally after a load of complications the truth comes out. The small role of Helen Palmer is one of Aileen Pringle's first appearances in a major studio film. In fact no one seemed to get the name of the future star of Three Weeks correct -- it ranges from Adele Pringle (Motion Picture News) to Eileen Pringle (Film Daily). ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

In addition to her illustrious career as a screenwriter, Frances Marion also directed a few pictures. This one, based on a Fannie Hurst story that was published in the Saturday Evening Post, is typical of Marion's sentimental tastes. Since the screenwriter had worked quite a bit with Mary Pickford, it's not surprising that Sigrid Holmquist was cast to star here -- she had gained a reputation in her native country as "the Swedish Mary Pickford." Ma Birdsong, a widow (Margaret Seddon), is devoted to her two teenage children -- Jimmy (Lewis Sargent) and Essie (Holmquist). They live on New York's Lower East Side, and against her mother's wishes, Essie gets a job as a theater usher. The girl becomes involved with Joe Ullman, a young man of questionable morals (Edward Phillips). Mrs. Birdsong wants to meet Essie's sweetheart, but Ullman does everything he can to avoid this. Finally, when her mother is dying, Essie realizes how neglectful she has been. Still, Ullman refuses to come to Mrs. Birdsong's bedside. But Essie finds a kind stranger (Fred Thomson) who offers to play her boyfriend. Mrs. Birdsong dies believing that her daughter will be taken care of. And she's right -Essie and the stranger fall in love. Actor Fred Thomson, incidentally, was Frances Marion's husband. Later in the decade he became a cowboy star. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Actor E.H. Sothern repeats his stage role of Ernanton deLaunay in this screen adaptation. The story is set during the reign of King Henry of Navarre, played by Charles Muzitt. To get her father out of prison, Julie deVarien (Edith Storey) must trick deLaunay, an enemy to the king, into being captured. But when she meets him, she does not realize he is deLaunay and falls in love with him. Only when she asks to be led to the king's enemy does he reveal who he is. Julie, shocked by this turn of events, tries to go back to the king's court and settle matters. It is up to deLaunay to save her from her own treachery. Sothern, who was best at costume dramas (which considerably limited his range) looked a bit old to play the romantic leading man, at least on film. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide