The Silver Horde

The Silver Horde is a 1930 American pre-Code romantic drama film starring Joel McCrea as a fisherman torn between two women, played by top-billed Evelyn Brent and Jean Arthur. Directed by George Archainbaud from a screenplay by Wallace Smith, it is the second film adaptation of the 1909 novel of the same name by Rex Beach, which is a follow-up to his earlier novel, The Spoilers. The first filming of The Silver Horde was a silent 1920 film also titled The Silver Horde. The title is a reference to the salmon fishing industry in Alaska, and the color of the fish bulging in the fishermen's nets. Plot In the Alaskan wilderness, Boyd Emerson and Fraser, arrive by dogsled at a village. They are puzzled to receive a chilly welcome from its inhabitants. Frustrated, Boyd gets into a fight with local George Balt, which is broken up by Cherry Malotte. She invites the newcomers to dinner. She explains that they have stumbled into a bitter struggle between two rival fishing groups, hers and Fred Marsh's. Boyd is ready to give up his fruitless search for gold. Cherry reinvigorates him and persuades him to join her side. She sends him, Fraser and Balt to Seattle to get a loan of $200,000 from Cherry's banker friend, Tom Hilliard, to rebuild a cannery. After concluding the deal, Boyd goes to see his socialite fiancée, Mildred Wayland. She is determined to marry him, despite her father's wish that she wed someone with wealth: none other than Fred Marsh. When Marsh provokes him, Boyd carelessly blurts out his plans. Wayne Wayland and Marsh conspire and get Cherry's financing withdrawn.