El héroe de Tontonia

I saw this movie recently on Turner and i enjoyed it very much. Frank Morgan was a talented actor and here he is at his best. The actress who played the little girl was truly great, a gifted talent.

There are some funny scenes like the one where Morgan tries to mount a horse by himself. After many tries he rides off barely hanging on. I think i smiled the most at this silly part. Still, the film is more of a character driven comedy that is mostly sweet and sentimental rather than hilarious. It reminded me somewhat of an episode of the Andy Griffith show. Another funny bit that has the sheriff and a prisoner sort of breaking out of jail together was very much like Barney and Otis doing their thing. This one is short and doesn't take time for adding a romantic interest for Morgan's character but that really wasn't necessary.

This film was pretty well written but the cast make the movie. Guy Kibbee also does a fine job as a drunken but good intentioned lawyer. Overall a delightful old movie and for me, an enjoyable time spent watching. 1939 was certainly a great year for Hollywood!!

This is one strange movie, if you know the Wizard's lines by heart in The Wizard of Oz, which many of us who grew up with it every spring on tv do. Here we get to see Frank Morgan, the Wizard in that classic, deliver lines that keep sounding like the Wizard's, even though he's not in Oz, or even Kansas.

The why is pretty simple. The movies were made at the same time by the same studio and shared a script writer, Florence Ryerson. Morgan even delivers the lines the same way in both movies.

Why? I have no idea. It could be that this one, which was probably a B movie made to run in alternation with A pics like TWOO, was intended to remind audiences of that other movie. It could just be that things were so rushed on this that no one made an effort to remain original.

Whatever the reason, it's fun to watch Frank Morgan sounding JUST like the Wizard when, in fact, he's nowhere near Kansas or Oz and the plots are not the same.

This little known film was shown the other night thanks to TCM. It proved to be a delightful surprise. The film directed by Edwin Marin and based on a story by W.C. Tuttle, makes a well spent sixty-six minutes.

Best of all is Frank Morgan, who plays a man who suddenly learns about he has inherited his step-brother's ranch in Arizona after having failed in Manhattan. The film is fun because of the contrast the cattle farm presents for city slicker Henry Conroy.

The supporting cast is excellent. The charming Virginia Weidler plays Molly, who takes to Henry immediately, as she thinks she has found a father figure at last. Guy Kibee, Slim Summerville, Douglas Fowley and Owen Davis Jr., are seen in minor roles.

The film is a lot of fun thanks to Frank Morgan who is amazing in it.

While Frank Morgan is most known for his appearance in "The Wizard of Oz", his forte was making nice B-movies for MGM. His affable personality shone through in these pictures and most are well worth seeing--and the quality of the films make them seem like A- pictures--short enough to be a B but higher quality.

Despite the weird title, "Henry Goes Arizona" is one of Morgan's better films. He is lovely in the lead and it helps that he had able support from Guy Kibbee, Slim Summerville and, especially, Virginia Weidler.

Then the story begins, Henry (Morgan) learns that his step-brother has died and left him his ranch out west. Considering Henry is broke, he eagerly jumps at the chance to take control of the place. However, when he arrives in Tonto City (tonto is the Spanish word for 'idiot'), he learns that his step-brother had been murdered and Henry is not about to stick around and be killed himself. But his sweet nice, Molly (Weidler) believes in him and so he belatedly decides to stay. But being a total wimp, you wonder just how long Henry will stick around Tonto City.

An enjoyable script and some enjoyable acting make this worth seeing. By the way, notice Morgan on a horse...he really did know what he was doing despite acting out of his element!

When you have as leads scene stealers like Frank Morgan and Guy Kibbee in the leads of a film it makes viewing something like Henry Goes Arizona a must.

Frank Morgan is in the title role. Morgan is an unemployed old actor who gets word that his brother died and left him his Arizona ranch and a niece he never knew about, Virginia Weidler. But upon getting there the place is in hock with liens for back taxes and run by the crooked foreman Douglas Fowley for his own nefarious purposes and those of his real boss crooked lawyer Porter Hall.

Guy Kibbee is the avuncular town judge, sympathetic to Morgan and Weidler and helps when he can. Add to that Slim Summerville as the sheriff with some interesting ideas concerning penology and you have a dream film for character actors.

I always like it when occasionally the big studios like MGM do not cast their leads and allow their character players to strut their stuff in their own. Morgan, Kibbee, Summerville, and Porter Hall. That is one great quadrifecta.