Product Details

• Actors: James Stewart, Gilbert Roland, Joanne Dru
• Directors: Anthony Mann
• Format: PAL, Import, Dolby, Dubbed, Subtitled
• Subtitles: Spanish
• Region: Region 2 (Read more about DVD formats.)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0016JDHBI
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #521,265 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Thunder Bay A pair of oil trouble-shooters (James Stewart and Dan Duryea) attempt to strike it rich despite devastating hurricanes, dangerous love affairs and a hostile town of Cajun fishermen. The Glenn Miller Story James Stewart and June Allyson star in a tribute to one of America's legendary bandleaders, charting Glenn Miller's rise from obscurity and poverty to fame and wealth in the early 1940's.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Offbeat Stewart/Mann, April 8, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Thunder Bay [VHS] (VHS Tape)

James Stewart and director Anthony Mann used to alternate their Western pictures with contemporary stories during the 1950's and this is one of their efforts. It's certainly one of the most unusual plots ever to make it to the American screen: about the development of offshore oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico after WW2. Stewart had his usual family of regulars around him, the best being Dan Duryea. Stewart gives a compelling portrayal of a man possessed by an industrial vision. Even his gorgeous romantic interest Joanne Dru is a minor distraction from his main love, his oil rig. Written by John Michael Hayes, who went on to write two of Stewart's classics with Hitchcock: "Rear Window" and "The Man Who Knew Too Much."

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Widescreen Version Would Be Nice, June 2, 2009

By 

Craig Connell (Lockport, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Thunder Bay [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This was decent entertainment but nothing special, which it could have been with the likes of James Stewart, Joanne Dru, Dan Duryea and Gilbert Roland, Director Anthony Mann.....and an awesome widescreen transfer.

This moive is supposed to be very good widescreen viewing but, unfortunately, it still hasn't been issued on that format. I am stuck with a formatted-to-TV tape until a separate Region 1 widescreen DVD is released on this film. What's the holdup?

Duryea and Stewart played their normal interesting roles. This is mainly storytelling, even though it's listed as an "action movie." There is very little violence. It's simply a story of some people who are the first to successfully drill oil offshore and the resistance they get from the local fishermen. Today, they would be getting "drilled" from all kinds of environmentalist groups.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Okay action drama, December 12, 2007

By 

F. J. Harvey "Cricket ,country music and a go... (Birmingham England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Thunder Bay [VHS] (VHS Tape)

It was James Stewart himself who summed up this movie best ."They wanted a picture with Jimmy Stewart and we concocted one"Undeniably ,there hangs over the picture a sense of movie making by numbers -a bit of action,a bit of romance ,a bit of conflict and violence with everything exacerbated by a natural disaster towards the end of the picture .

This is not to imply this is a bad movie -it is nothing of the sort being perfectly entertaining if predictable .It does come as a let down after the excellence of the Westerns that Stewart and director Anthony Mann made together around this time -The Far Country ,The Naked Spur,Winchester '73 .Bend of the River and The Man From Laramie.These went some way to redefining the whole genre .This is not as innovative but is rattling good entertainment all the same.

Stewart plays an oil man named Steve Martin who with partner Johhny Gambi (Dan Duryea)want to drill for oil under the waters in the Gulf of Mexico .This does not sit well with the local shrimpers who fear the drilling will drive away the shrimp upon which they depend for their livelihood.Opposition is lead by Techo Bossier (Gilbert Roland )an ooposition manifested in violence ans some sexual tension as romance blossoms between Stewart and Joanne Dru ,a member of a shrimping family

The movie was somewhat ahead of its time in its eco message and benefits from good location shooting in the Gulf of Mexico .Stewart brings intensity and conviction to hois role and you can always rely on such stalwarts as Duryea ,Jay C Flippen ,Roland and Henry Morgan for quality acting .The women ,Dru and Marcia henderson are less impactful

I would have rated this a star higher but for the quality of the other work done by this star/director combination .As it is you have an enjoyable if unoriginal tale with good production values and lots of lively action