'Neath the Arizona Skies (1934)

A Lone Star Western. Copyright 15 January 1935 by Monogram Pictures Corp. No New York opening. U.S. release: 5 December 1934. U.K. release through Pathé : 12 August 1935. 6 reels. 52 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Wayne is the guardian of a little Indian girl, Shirley Jane Rickert, who is entitled to a royalty payment of $50,000 for an oil lease. Before she can get the money, however, Wayne needs to get a paper signed by her natural father, Earl Dwire. A gang of kidnappers led by Yakima Canutt also want the money. Matters are further complicated when a couple of bank robbers, Rockwell and Wilsey, cross paths.COMMENT: This would be a dull Lone Star were it not for the surprise appearance of George Hayes, playing pretty close to his "Gabby" character. Although prominently featured in re-issue posters and advertising, Hayes isn't even mentioned in the credits. Maybe his part was added as an afterthought. However it says much for the quality for the rest of the movie, that Hayes is the highlight of interest. True the pace is fairly rapid and the plot has more twists than a snake on an ants' nest, but the action spots - and admittedly there are many - are poorly and unexcitingly staged. Mr. Fraser is not one of the better directors in this field. Not only are the action scenes lacking in vigor and punch, but the level of acting is far more amateurish than usual. Even Canutt has little color, whilst Wayne himself lacks his usual assurance and sparkle. The heroine is somewhat dowdily costumed, though she has an attractive face, and as for Miss Rickert/Ricketts, it comes as no surprise to learn that she was a former member of the Our Gang series. She's one of those over-confident, over-forward but not particularly charismatic Hollywood kids which the studios seem to turn out by the cart-load. Still Buffalo Bill, Jr. was mean and shifty enough as the villain, and Earl Dwire had one or two good moments as the never-do-well turned playful dad. (No-one could complain that Dwire lacked variety in his various Lone Star roles). And maybe I imagined it, but "Sheriff" Jack Rockwell seemed uncomfortable in his unaccustomed role as a heavy.As for the Arizona skies, we're still waiting. The locations are singularly uninteresting, even by Poverty Row's Hollywood Hills standards. Yes, Yakima Canutt does do a couple of stunts, including two leaps from a cliff, one on horseback, doubling himself; and one solo, doubling Wayne. Thanks to Fraser's poor direction, both fail to impress.

Cowboy John Wayne goes in search of the long-lost father of a half-Indian girl in order to for her to cash in on her late mother's oil rich property, while a nasty gang of cutthroats plan on snatching her for their own enrichment. Complicating things is a gang of armed robbers who attempt to frame Wayne.Despite a few good stunts and the presence of Yakima Cannut and George "Gabby" Hayes the first two-thirds of this entry in Lone Star/Monogram Pictures' John Wayne films is mediocre and bland. Fortunately, the last third brings it all out of the muck with probably some of the best suspense and action in all of the series!Overall, it's worth watching.

Someone once said the only good thing Lone Star ever did was to keep John Wayne employed during the thirties but I disagree heartily. My favourite John Wayne westerns are Lone Stars. I thought I would watch this movie today as a tribute to Shirley Jean Rickert, who died recently. Although she was in a couple of Little Rascal shorts, her main claim to fame was as Tomboy Taylor in the Mickey McGuire shorts. These shorts were similar to Our Gang and were made around the same time (late 20s to early 30s) but benefited enormously from having Mickey Rooney in the title role. "'Neath the Arizona Skies" was one of the very few credited parts in feature films that Shirley played in.When oil is found on Indian land, Chris Morrell (John Wayne) is sent to try to locate Nina's (Shirley Jean Rickert, playing a part Indian child) father so they can inherit the $50,000 payment. Of course the bad guys, led by Sam Black (Yakima Canutt) are hot on his trail and determined to kidnap the little girl. As with all Lone Stars, there is plenty of action, roping, stampeding, shoot outs etc.Nina is sent to a house Chris thinks will be safe but when she gets there although it has been taken over, Matt (Gabby Hayes) the cook, takes her under his wing and protects her. Meanwhile Chris is mistaken for a bank robber. The real robber fleeing the scene comes across Chris who has passed out from fatigue and changes shirts!!! Clara finds Chris and realises he was her dead brother's best friend. Unfortunately her other brother, Jim, is the real robber. This plot, strangely goes nowhere. Tom, Nina's real father, appears on the scene and while in the past he has been a ne'er do well, he now joins forces with Chris to protect his little daughter.She may not have had many credited parts but Shirley was an important part of this film. It must have been a memorable movie for her - she rode horses, rode in rivers, was in the middle of a shoot out!!! She must have had grand fun!!!Recommended.

This rates as the worst of the Duke's early shoot-em-ups that this writer has seen. Still, the worst John Wayne western has much to offer. My big beefs are that the plot line has a hole in it so big you could drive a stagecoach through it. The hero Chris Morrell meets a girl named Clara who turns out to be the sister of his slain friend Bud Moore. Later, she introduces him to her brother Jim, who earlier had switched shirts and hats with an unconscious Chris at the riverbank. Yet, despite being best friend to her brother, Chris doesn't seem to know that Bud had a sister AND a brother who is a bad enough hombre that his first appearance in this film is robbing an express office. Even more implausible is that Clara doesn't recognize the shirt that Chris is wearing at the riverbank as being identical to one belonging to her brother, especially since it appears as something so dressy that no self-respecting cowboy would wear it in public except to a dance. Another bigger beef that rates as a GOOF comes at the movie's beginning. While packing Nina's clothes for their journey,Chris tells her they're heading north to find her dad. Since they're still presumably in Oklahoma, which is east but not south of Arizona, a northward journey means the picture should be retitled "Neath Nebraska Skies." Despite its faults, it's a pretty typical B western with not much to distinguish it from Wayne's other Lone Star pictures, except for the Shirley Temple wannabe they stuck in this picture. Shirley had nothing to fear from the competition here. Dale Roloff