Sous le ciel d'Arizona

Neath The Arizona Skies finds John Wayne as the guardian of little Shirley Jean Rickert who is a half Indian little tyke who stands to inherit some really big bucks because property her Mother left before she died has oil on it. Dad's been out of the picture for some time and most believe he's dead. The Duke thinks otherwise and sets off to find him.

He's got Yakima Canutt and a gang he's leading for competition who would like nothing better than to snatch the girl, kill the father if he's alive and get guardianship of the fortune.

Remember this is 1934 and kidnapping stories were very commonplace in films because of the Lindbergh kidnapping a few years earlier.

I wish this film had been done by a major studio with production values of same. There is a good nugget of a plot idea here and it could have been developed a lot better than it was.

Still it's not bad for a Lone Star production for John Wayne and I think more than Duke devotees might like it.

... from Monogram/Lone Star and director Harry Fraser. In the barely-there plot, Wayne plays Chris Morrell, the caretaker of young half-breed Native girl Nina (Shirley Jean Rickert). Nina is owed nearly $50,000 from oil leases on her family's land, and since the girl's mother is deceased, Chris has to track down the girl's father and get his signature on some paperwork, or else prove that the man is dead, for the girl to get her money. Naturally, some bad guys led by Sam Black (Yakima Canutt) overhear the situation and decide to try and kidnap the girl and get the money themselves. For the remainder of the movie's 52 minute running time, Chris and Nina try to outwit the baddies, with help from nice lady Clara (Sheila Terry) and old coot Matt (George "Gabby" Hayes).

This is largely indistinguishable from most of the other Lone Star westerns Wayne was in at the time: cardboard sets, bare-minimum scripting, poorly staged fist fights, and a foregone conclusion. Hayes was appearing in many of these westerns at the time, but for some reason he received no on-screen credit for this one. Wayne is slowly learning his craft, and seems just a tiny bit more natural than in previous outings.

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.

"Neath the Arizona Skies" was one of the series of Lone Star Westerns that Wayne made between 1933 and 1935. It contains plenty of action and stunts. Wayne was looking more comfortable and less awkward as the hero. Sheila Terry, who had worked with Wayne at Columbia and in one of his serials is the heroine. Yakima Canutt is the chief heavy and George Hayes appears unbilled playing a character very close to the "Gabby" character that he would play exclusively from about 1936 onward. In this series Hayes played a variety of roles from sidekick, to father of the heroine, to the villain.

The best that can be said of Canutt's performance is that as an actor, he made a great stuntman. He performs a number of his trademark stunts in this film from the horse and rider going over over the cliff, to numerous horse falls and fights. The chase sequences were well photographed and staged. the plot involving the protection by Wayne of a little girl who stands to inherit oil wells, moves along and is believable. All in all, 'Neath the Arizona Skies is a competent little actioner.

Average Wayne-Lone Star matinée special. Chris (Wayne) is trying to secure oil money for fatherless Indian girl Nina (Rickert). Sam Black (a good name for bad guy Canutt) and his gang are trying to kidnap the girl and hijack the money. Nothing exceptional here, other than some good outdoor action and a clever Canutt-devised stunt with rope and a tree. For fans of Gabby Hayes, his likably grouchy character is almost complete. For me, the highlight was seeing Lone Star regular Earl Dwire actually play a good guy (Tom) for once. With his considerably less than handsome features, he fits the bad guy stereotype. So his role here amounts to a welcome departure showing that you don't have to look like a Wayne to play a good guy. Fairly scenic locations, not the Sierras unfortunately, but not the treeless LA scrublands either. Strikingly pretty Sheila Terry as Clara doesn't have much to do other than ride horseback in a dress, no less, and with the boys. Note the plunge off the cliff into the water. This was a popular stunt of the time and a fittingly dramatic end to a chase sequence. I can't tell whether this one is a stock shot from another film or not. But, never mind, since it's a grabber anyway. All in all, an entertaining 50 minutes, but nothing special.