Main Cast: James Stewart, Joanne Dru, Gilbert Roland, Dan Duryea, Jay C. Flippen
Release Year: 1953
Country: US
Run Time: 82 minutes
Plot
Thunder Bay was another inspired collaboration between star James Stewart and director Anthony Mann. Stewart plays an ex-GI named Steve, who has a hankering to drill for oil in the Gulf of Mexico. Together with his army buddy Gambi (Dan Duryea, in a rare good-guy role), Steve attains the financial backing of irascible oil-company chieftain Kermit MacDonald (Jay C. Flippen) and the two head southward. Before they can even place their drills in the clamps, Steve and Gambi run afoul of local shrimp fishermen who consider the presence of oil speculators as a threat to their livelihoods. Things get dicey when Steve falls in love with Stella (Joanne Dru), the daughter of combative fisherman Dominique Rigaud (Antonio Moreno). Mob mentality threatens to overcome common sense until a clever -- and mutually beneficial -- compromise between the drillers and the fishermen is reached. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Alexander Golitzen - Art Director, Richard H. Riedel - Art Director, Rosemary Odell - Costume Designer, Anthony Mann - Director, Russell Schoengarth - Editor, Frank Skinner - Composer (Music Score), William H. Daniels - Cinematographer, Aaron Rosenberg - Producer, John Michael Hayes - Screenwriter, Gil Doud - Screenwriter
Following World War II, ex-Navy engineer Steve Martin (James Stewart) and his friend Johnny Gambi (Dan Duryea) come to Louisiana with dreams of wealth. They build an offshore oil drilling platform with the help of a large company, and find themselves in a lucrative business. All seems well until nature and man both conspire against the young entrepreneurs, in the form of sabotage, a hurricane, and greedy big-businessmen.
