White horse confusion - Sheik or Thunder

Above and below are images of a white horse used by John Wayne, Wally Wales, Tim McCoy, Rex Bell, Dave Sharpe, Buster Crabbe, 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 - 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 "Duke" ... no, it's "Starlight" ... no, it's "Silver King" ... no, it's "Sheik" ... no, it's "Thunder" no, it's "Whitey" ... oh, pick a name.

I vaguely recall that "Sheik" came 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:

Reed Hadley rides him in the ZORRO'S FIGHTING LEGION (Republic, 1939) serial.
I was watching some Hoppy DVDs and William Boyd was riding this horse in PARTNERS OF THE PLAINS (1938) and CASSIDY OF BAR 20 (1938).

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).

Image 2: Tim McCoy still from his Columbia films which were released from 1931-1935.

Image 3: is Tim McCoy (wearing a vest) and is a crop from a still from FIGHTING FOR JUSTICE (Columbia, 1932).

Take a gander at the saddle used in the Wayne and McCoy images 1, 2 and 3.

Image 4: is a crop from the Wally Wales starrer TRAILS OF DANGER (National Players/Big 4, 1930). Supposedly, Wales used Fred Thomson's "Silver King" ... and he did in some films. But Silver King's face was clear. See below for the differences between this horse and another white mount that Wales used.

Image 5: is from the pressbook for KING OF THE SIERRAS (Grand National, 1938). The white horse is billed as "Sheik The New Wonder Horse". The pinto is "Thunder" and the colt is "Cappy".

Images numbered 6: shows Rex Bell and closeup of the face of his hoss during Bell's mid 1930s series for Colony Pictures.

Images numbered 7: stuntman Dave Sharpe and the titled cayuse from SILVER STALLION (Monogram, 1940), and the opening credits on the film as well as pressbook material list the name of the horse as "Thunder".

Image 8: is of Buster Crabbe and he rode this horse in his early films as PRC's Billy the Kid (before he got "Falcon"). Crop from a 1943 lobby card.

(Courtesy of Les Adams)

Above is the title lobby card for SILVER STALLION (Monogram, 1941). Stuntman Dave Sharpe is the hero and is listed (as 'David Sharpe'), along with Chief 'Tonto' Thunder Cloud, LeRoy Mason, Captain Boots the police dog ... and "Thunder the Wonder Horse". The heroine pictured - but not credited - is Janet Waldo 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 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.

(Courtesy of Ed Phillips)

Above is a another still showing Tim McCoy riding that horse with the mottling on its face.

(From Old Corral image 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. Below is a publicity shot of Wales and Silver King, probably from their days with Big 4 or Imperial Pictures in the early 1930s. Note the different faces on these horses.

(From Old Corral image collection)

(Courtesy of Les Adams)

Above is a lobby card of Fred Thomson and Silver King from SILVER COMES THRU (FBO, 1927).


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.