Fighting Caravans

"The old time west is passing," says one of the characters in "Fighting Caravans." This early 'talkie' is also one of the earliest 'big budget' westerns from what I read. Unfortunately, this is a B Movie all the way, and not that entertaining either. A young Gary Cooper plays a scout of some sort who is working for a wagon train caravan carrying freight from Missouri to Sacramento, California in the 1860's during the civil war and right before the railroads had been built throughout the west. There is hardship, danger, Indians, romance and cornball humor in this vintage western. Somehow, when you mix them all up together, the recipe isn't all that tasty. The humor is obnoxious at times and the acting, even Gary Cooper's, is noticeably weak during some scenes. This movie tries to be several different types of movies all rolled in to one and it doesn't pull it off. Interestingly enough, there are moments in the film where it is evident that the style of acting and camera work from silent films is still being used. It is a bit fascinating to see how an early 1930's filmmaker portrayed the 1860's. I'd say pass on this movie unless you are a Gary Cooper fan or a hard core fan of early westerns. 61/100.

let's weigh the merits of this film: (1) a strikingly handsome (and tall), youthful Gary Cooper -- this is the opportunity to see a giant screen legend when he was a vibrant young newcomer! This alone merits seeing this movie. (2) The dialogue is witty, pithy and fun -- in fact, give me the screenwriter from 1931 over most of today's movies!. (3) There is a lot of fast-paced and exciting western action (and the stuntwork is just plain fun to watch). Yes, this was relatively early movie making, and in some ways it shows, but that also provides tremendous enjoyment for the film buff. Watch it with a light heart, but with reverence for the old films, and I think you can't help but enjoy it.

This was a pretty boring very old movie with some odd comic relief characters who are like drunk hillbillies. Interesting for big fans of Gary Cooper but ultimately a pretty forgettable movie. Better than some, worse than some.

Stars a young gary cooper, guiding wagons across the plains of the west. A remake of the 1923 film covered wagon (with the one and only alan hale !). And the story will be told again in the 1934 wagon wheels, with randolph scott!. Keep an eye out for gene pallette. He was a supporting actor in so many films of the 1930s. But was not a nice guy, if you read his bio in wikipedia. Caravans is okay; the typical zane grey western story. More fanfare and galloping horses than anything. It's a story about a wagon train traversing america, but many of the scenes all seem to take place on the same (backlot) of the studio. In one scene about 45 minutes in, the wheel on the wagon isn't even turning as the wagon moves...say what? The picture quality and sound are both so-so, but this film is coming up on 100 years old! Director otto brower made a ton of zane grey's stories into film. Sadly, brower died young at 50.

Quick and amusing dialogue, fun characters, great ___location shooting, and high production values for the time, I was very happy to stumble upon this wonderful old film. I found it thoroughly entertaining.

Seeing the charismatic glow of a skinny young Gary Cooper makes me regret that he adopted such a dull and wooden persona later in his career.

A lot of the negative critiques of this film here seem to be based on superficial criticisms of the look and pacing of movies of this era, and not with the movie itself. If a movie is engaging, one soon gets used to the shortcomings of the time when early talkies were still finding their way with dialogue delivery and pacing. In fact, I thought they did a pretty good job here. While it is somewhat episodic, the performances are sensitive, and it does give us a rich and convincing glimpse of the wagon train era, even with the white man's simplistic perspective of Native American culture.