The Silver Horde (1930)

Director:

George Archainbaud

Writers:

Rex Beach (novel)
Wallace Smith (adaptation)

Release Date:

25 October 1930 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

One Woman -- In a Land of Men

Plot:

A salmon fisherman has to choose between a bad girl and a society doll.

Plot Keywords:

Salmon | Fishing | Strangulation | Mining | Romantic Rivalry

Cast

Evelyn Brent	...	Cherry Malotte
Louis Wolheim	...	George Balt
Joel McCrea	...	Boyd Emerson
Raymond Hatton	...	Fraser
Jean Arthur	...	Mildred Wayland
Gavin Gordon	...	Frederick 'Fred' / 'Freddie' Marsh
Blanche Sweet	...	Queenie
Purnell Pratt	...	Wayne Wayland
William B. Davidson	...	Thomas 'Tom' Hilliard (as William Davidson)
Ivan Linow	...	Svenson
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Robert Homans	...	Waiter (uncredited)
William H. O'Brien	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Dennis O'Keefe	...	Dance Extra (uncredited)

Directed by
George Archainbaud

Writing credits
Rex Beach		(novel)
Wallace Smith		(adaptation & dialogue)

Produced by
William LeBaron	....	producer
William Sistrom	....	associate producer

Cinematography by
John W. Boyle		(photographed by)
Leo Tover		(photographed by)

Film Editing by
Otto Ludwig

Costume Design by
Max Rée

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Thomas Atkins	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Max Rée	....	scenery

Sound Department
Clem Portman	....	sound recordist

Production Companies

• RKO Radio Pictures

Distributors

• RKO Radio Pictures (USA) (theatrical)
• C&C Television Corporation (1955) (USA) (TV)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media)
• Roan Group, The (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

75 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Photophone System)

Certification:

USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Filming Locations:

Ketchikan, Alaska, USA

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

Final film of Blanche Sweet.

Quotes:

Cherry Malotte: I'm Cherry Malotte! They know about me from San Francisco to Sitka. My reputation's got marks on it I couldn't rub off if I wanted to! I am what I am! I don't know how they finally settle things in this world or the next, but when the day comes I'll stand there with my chin up and take what's coming to me. And I wouldn't trade places with you, you white-livered, sweet-smelling hypocrite if they gave me a one-way ticket to Hell!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Why Be Good? Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema (2007)

A must see "uncorseted" movie

This movie is a must see for the quote that is cited by IMDb in its description. This quote should be as as famous as "Play it again, Sam" and all the other lines that the Oscars are touting this year. Note that "I am what I am" is right there, 1930, way before La Cage aux Folles. Watching a movie like this makes me understand that the strict enforcement of the Production Code in 1934 really was in lock-step with the rise of fascism worldwide - movies such as the Silver Horde were dangerous - immensely threatening to the patriarchy and those who supported it - "society women" (though many were rebelling) and working-class Roman Catholics (the 1934 role of the American Church in ensuring the 30-year enforcement of the production code is well documented). Like so many of these pre-Code movies, female liberation is simply a matter of fact - we need to watch these movies because we don't understand our history, both domestically and in the context of the rise of fascism in the 1930s, and this history desperately needs to be retold. These movies are the way in to understanding the sexual aspect of the political movement. Even if the rest of the movie is melodramatic bunk, everyone should have the above scene taped and ready to play whenever we despair that all the world's women will obtain freedom from fascism in any of its toxic manifestations. In this movie, Evelyn Brent, as a woman, runs circles around the actresses of that time who cemented their fame for prosperity - Crawford, Davis, Hepburn, but she shall have the last laugh when they "settle things in this world or the next" (notice her use of "or" - another term paper there) for it is she who delivers these magnificent lines...