(Courtesy of Boyd Magers) Above - Tim McCoy and his trusty hoss "Pal" in the title lobby card from CORNERED (Columbia, 1932). This horse is easy to identify due to the unique face markings. |
Above and below are images of a white horse used by Wally Wales, Tim McCoy, Rex Bell, Dave Sharpe, Buster Crabbe, Ray Corrigan, Smith Ballew, Jack Hoxie, Reed Hadley, and William 'Hoppy' Boyd. These images and the "recent spottings" noted below cover a period from 1930 - early 1940s. This horse is easy to spot, as it has some unique mottling on the face as shown in the image on the left - note the longish streak under the right eye and a large curl or a "c" or "e" shaped mark under the left eye. This hoss had many names ... it's "Pal" ... "Topper" ... "Duke" ... "Starlight" ... "Silver King" ... "Sheik" ... "Thunder" ... "Whitey" ... "Dynamite" ... oh, pick a name. I vaguely recall this horse was from the Fat Jones Stable. Clarence Y. Jones, whose nickname was "Fat", owned the stable and supplied horses, wagons, etc. to the movie industry. His daughter Carol Elaine Jones was married to western movie actor and stuntman Ben Johnson. If you spot this particular horse while you're watching a video, jot down the film name and who was the rider, and send the Old Corral webmaster an e-mail. | ||
Recent spottings of this horse:
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The above images and crops from images and lobby cards are from Les Adams (5 & 8), Ed Phillips (2), Minard Coons (1 & 3) and the Old Corral photo collection. |
Keys to the above images:
Images numbered 1: John Wayne along with an enlargement of the horse's face showing the mottling. Wayne rode a white named Duke in his Warners series. In his many Lone Star/Monogram westerns, Wayne rode all kinds and colors of hosses (including Jack Perrin's white Starlight and there's a photo of Wayne on the White Horse #2 page). |
(Courtesy of Les Adams) Above is the title lobby card for SILVER STALLION (Monogram, 1941). Stuntman Dave Sharpe is the hero and is billed as 'David Sharpe', along with Chief 'Tonto' Thunder Cloud, LeRoy Mason, Captain Boots, Famous Police Dog ... and "Thunder the Wonder Horse". The heroine pictured - but not credited - is Janet Waldo (1920 - 2016) who is best remembered as the lead in radio's MEET CORLISS ARCHER and the voice of 'Judy Jetson' in the long-running THE JETSONS TV show. (Courtesy of Bruce Hickey) Above are "Silver King", Tim McCoy, and the white horse with the mottled face in McCoy's RUSTY RIDES ALONE (Columbia, 1933). This was McCoy's only film with a canine helper. |
(Courtesy of Les Adams) Above - a pressbook ad for KING OF THE SIERRAS (Grand National, 1938). In this film, Hobart Bosworth rides this white horse. Rex and Sheik are both listed in the film title credits (Rex is "El Diablo" and Sheik is "Whitey"). | (Courtesy of Les Adams) Above from the SILVER STALLION (Monogram, 1941) pressbook. That pressbook also mentions that Jack Saunders was the horse trainer. |
(Courtesy of Ed Phillips) Above is Tim McCoy riding that horse with the mottling on its face. (Courtesy of Minard Coons) Above - a publicity still of Wayne atop the "white horse with a mottled face and many names". This was definitely not Duke, the horse he rode in his six Warners westerns. And I've yet to find him riding this particular white horse in his Lone Star/Monogram series as well as his first batch of oaters for Republic Pictures. Methinks Wayne was at a stable for publicity stills and he just happened to climb aboard this particular horse for this photo. (From Old Corral collection) William Boyd rode a white horse named 'Topper' in 66 Hopalong Cassidy films released from 1935 - 1948 and his 1950s TV program. In the early Hoppy adventures, he rode a variety of rental horses. Screen capture above of Boyd riding White Hoss #1, "the horse with a mottled face and many names", in PARTNERS OF THE PLAINS (Paramount, 1938). (From Old Corral collection) Above - Dave Sharpe chit-chatting with 'Thunder, the Wonder Horse' in SILVER STALLION (Monogram, 1941). (Courtesy of Les Adams) In his early PRC westerns including his first, BILLY THE KID WANTED (PRC, 1941), Buster Crabbe rode the mottled face horse (before he got his regular mount, 'Falcon'). (From Old Corral collection) Above is a well worn lobby card from TRAILS OF DANGER (National Players/Big 4, 1930), one of the early talkies starring real life cowpoke Wally Wales. The gal is Virginia Brown Faire. Some folks suggested this horse may have been Fred Thomson's Silver King which was ridden by Wally Wales in the 1930s. But the answer is no. It's the "horse with a mottled face and many names". Below is a publicity shot of Wales and Silver King from CARRYING THE MAIL (William Pizor/Imperial, 1934). Note the different face on this horse. (From Old Corral collection) (Courtesy of Les Adams) Lobby card of Fred Thomson and Silver King from SILVER COMES THRU (FBO, 1927). |