The Prairie

Impoverished farmer Ishmael Bush takes his five sons west, hoping to stake out a claim in the Louisiana Purchase. While on their journey, they rescue Ellen Wade, the only survivor of a stampede, from an Indian tribe. All five of Ishmael's sons become captivated by the woman's beauty. Ellen, on the other hand, has fallen in love with Paul Hover, a mapmaker who has also joined the group. With the Bush brothers driven mad in their lust for Ellen, Ishmael's dream of finding the promised land may not come true before blood is spilled.

The Prairie, the first big screen adaptation of James Fenimore Cooper's classic 1847 novel, has rarely been seen since its theatrical release. Director Frank Wisbar had his roots in the German Expressionist movement, working as a writer/producer for UFA. He left for America in 1939 after his films met with disapproval from the Nazi government. Many of the same motifs he uses in The Prairie appeared a year before in his cult classic Strangler of the Swamp (1946). Leading man Alan Baxter had studied drama with legendary director Elia Kazan. After making his debut opposite Sylvia Sidney in Mary Burns, Fugitive (1935), he scored an impressive supporting role in Alfred Hitchcock's Saboteur (1942). John Mitchum was the younger brother of legendary actor Robert Mitchum, and made his first appearance onscreen here after a chance meeting with director Wisbar. Though never achieving the success of his elder sibling, he scored an impressive career of his own, being best known as Inspector Frank DiGiorgio in the first three Dirty Harry films (1971-1976). Both actors who played the Lone Ranger's sidekick Tonto, Jay Silverheels and Chief Thundercloud, appear together in The Prairie. Fans of Lenore Aubert (Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein) will be pleasantly surprised by her (tasteful) nude scene.