Fighting Caravans

Gary Cooper plays Clint Belmet, an ornery frontier scout arrested for public drunkenness. Felice, an orphan French girl in need of a chaperone to California, poses as his wife in order to save him from jail. The two then join a caravan headed westward. At first, Clint rudely expects Felice to perform her "wifely duties," but he soon begins to genuinely care about the girl. When a band of hostile Indians attack the caravan, Clint is forced to take responsibility for the first time in his life and save the woman he's come to love.

Fighting Caravans stars Gary Cooper at the height of his youthful charm. He had only recently become a major Hollywood star, for his iconic (and laconic) performance in The Virginian (1929). Ravishing French actress Lili Damita made 33 films between 1922 and 1937, but is perhaps best remembered for her rocky marriage to Errol Flynn. Paramount's ads for the film boasted, "More money, time, and talent was lavished on this picture than any other on Paramount's great 1930-31 schedule!" This was actually true, as Fighting Caravans enlisted two directors, two cameramen, four screenwriters, and nine composers! Paramount apparently wanted more of a return on their investment, however, as they reused footage from this film to craft a remake, Wagon Wheels (1934) starring Randolph Scott, only three years later. When it was shown on TV in the 1950s, Fighting Caravans was retitled Blazing Arrows.

• western