Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.

Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

AnhartLinkin This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

JohnHowardReid 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.

MattyGibbs Neath the Arizona skies is one of the better early John Wayne efforts. It is clear watching this film that he was growing in stature as an actor since the very early efforts where he was often a bit wooden. It's quite crisply filmed and has a more interesting if still quite clumsy plot than many of his early efforts. Here he attempts to keep safe a little Indian girl ( a cute Shirley Jean Rickett) who who a price on her head. There are the familiar stunts including one great one near the end, the obligatory shootout and of course his usual sidekick Gabby Hughes manages to get involved as well. This is another one that is really just for John Wayne fans only but if you are one this is worth watching.

utgard14 Another of John Wayne's cheapie westerns made for Lone Star. This one has him protecting a half-Indian girl while he searches for her father and fights off an outlaw (Yakima Canutt) who wants the girl and her father for reasons of his own. As is typical with these westerns, the best parts are the stunts. It's a fairly standard oater with not a whole lot recommend to those who aren't big fans of the Duke. The little girl is clearly a white kid with a terrible black wig on. She's a pretty bad actress, too. Hearing her repeatedly call Duke "Daddy Chris" is enough to turn your stomach. If you've seen any of the low-budget westerns Duke made in the '30s, you pretty much know what to expect here. If you haven't, go ahead and watch it but be prepared that there is nothing challenging here. It's a very simple cardboard story that runs less than an hour. Harmless but unsatisfying.

Gunnar_Runar_Ingibjargarson This Lone Star Pictures feature from 1934 doesn't seem to hold up as well as many of John Wayne's other early pictures. The technical quality is a little less pristine, and the plot is a little less enjoyable. 'Neath Arizona Skies a little different from many westerns in that a child lies at the heart of this story. John Wayne is "Daddy Chris" Morrell to a little Indian girl named Nina; Nina's mother is dead, and no one knows where her white father is or if he is dead or alive. Thanks to the discovery of oil on Indian lands, little Nina is suddenly worth fifty thousand dollars; this fact does not go unnoticed by desperadoes such as Sam Black (Yakima Canutt) and his gang. Morrell manages to escape town with Nina, but he is forced to send her ahead in order to slow down Black and his gang. The place of safety he sends her to ends up putting her in even more danger, and Morrell's troubles only increase when another bad guy tries to frame him for robbery. There is a decent amount of action, but it is your basic shoot-out, fisticuffs, and horse chase scenario that plays out. There is nothing really wrong with 'Neath Arizona Skies, but it just fails to excite me the way some of The Duke's other early