Chief Thundercloud Movies
Though the "Chief" was a purely honorary title, Chief Thundercloud was indeed a Native American. Educated at the University of Arizona, Thundercloud (given name: Victor Daniels) worked at a series of manual-labor and rodeo jobs before trying his luck in Hollywood. In films from 1928 through 1952, Thundercloud is best known for creating the role of Tonto in the 1938 serial The Lone Ranger. He... (read more) also played the title role in Paramount's Geronimo (1939), though he incredibly received no on-screen credit. Chief Thundercloud should not be confused with another prominent Indian actor, Chief Thunderbird, who appeared as Sitting Bull in 1936's Annie Oakley, nor with film-actor Scott T. Williams, who also billed himself as Chief Thundercloud. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
The Searchers
1956
If John Ford is the greatest Western director, The Searchers is arguably his greatest film, at once a grand outdoor spectacle like such Ford classics as She Wore a...
Santa Fe
1951
The creative team of producer Harry Joe Brown and star Randolph Scott turned out some of the best westerns of the 1950s, and Santa Fe is no exception. Set in the years...
A Ticket to Tomahawk
1950
A Ticket to Tomahawk has sometimes been described as a musical western satire, but in fact is more "straight" western than anything else--not that there's anything wrong with...
Indian Territory
1950
Columbia's final release for 1950 was the Gene Autry western Indian Territory. Set during the Reconstruction Era, the story finds Autry working as an undercover agent for...
Traveling Saleswoman
1950
In the late 1940s - early 1950s, Columbia Pictures enjoyed a great deal of success with a series of slapsticky feature films built around the talents of such gifted funsters as...
I Killed Geronimo
1950
In a season that also brought the world such cinematic confessions as I Shot Jesse James (1949) and I Shot Billy the Kid (1950), both from low-budget Lippert Productions,...
Ambush
NR 1950
Ambush is a tight, well-paced western, expertly assembled by veteran director Sam Wood, whose last film this was. Robert Taylor stars as an Indian scout, sent to rescue a...
Colt .45
1950
The Randolph Scott western Colt .45 was retitled for TV so as not to be confused with the TV series of the same name. The new title, Thundercloud, misleads the audience...
Davy Crockett, Indian Scout
1950
Davy Crockett, king of the wild frontier, didn't become a nationwide craze (and merchandising cash cow) until Disney got hold of him in 1954. In the meantime, however, there...
Call of the Forest
1949
In this youthful adventure, a young boy and a wild stallion, Black Diamond, form an unbreakable bond. It is the boy's father who captured and gentled the remarkable horse. Later,...
Blazing Across the Pecos
NR 1948
The dastardly mayor of this film's title town sets out to provide the local Native Americans with guns and ammunition so that they may pillage a neighboring burg. ~ Michael...
The Prairie
1948
Fairly ambitious for Screen Guild Productions, The Prairie is set at the time of the Louisiana Purchase. Hoping to find their destiny in the new territory, the Bush Family...
Unconquered
1947
Cecil B. DeMille's first postwar production, the $5 million Technicolor historical spectacular Unconquered lacks only the kitchen sink. The story begins in England in the...
The Senator Was Indiscreet
1947
Acclaimed playwright George S. Kaufman made his directorial debut with this broad political satire. Senator Melvin G. Ashton (William Powell) is a long-time...
Romance of the West
1946
Filmed in two-toned Cinecolor, Romance of the West was the second of PRC's western vehicles for singing cowboy Eddie Dean. Our hero is cast as a government agent,...
Badman's Territory
NR 1946
In this is '40s western a U.S. marshal chases a band of big-name bandits into no-man's territory (land outside of U.S. government jurisdiction) as he's trying to locate his little...
The Phantom Rider [Serial]
1946
Adhering to the long tradition of casting non-action leads in their serials, Republic Pictures hired former 20th Century-Fox light leading man Robert Kent to headline no...
Renegade Girl
1946
Alan Curtis plays a hired Union agent who's been dispatched to capture a Confederate gal who's the leader of some ravaging rebels. ~ Rovi...
Nob Hill
1945
The bland performance of star George Raft is the only drawback of this splashy 20th Century-Fox musical. Set in turn-of-the-century San Francisco, the film casts Raft as Barbary...
Sonora Stagecoach
1944
Filmed at Corriganville, actor Ray "Crash" Corrigan's movie ranch in Simi Valley, Sonora Stagecoach was the last of Monogram's eight ramshackle "Trail Blazers" Western....