'Neath the Arizona Skies

... 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 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.

I'm not necessarily a fan of the 'Duke' but I do enjoy a good Western - and this one isn't. Technically, it's rough and ready and I suppose typical for an unrestored print that's nearly 80 years old.

At least there's some action - quite a lot of it but is essentially Wayne either singly on horseback, chasing after someone, or having fisty-cuffs with someone. And, yes, there's a shoot-out.

The other reviewer of this title did a fine job pointing out the plot, for what it is.

The half Native American girl is quite sparky, the Duke speaks in monotones and is rather wooden but the love interest (she finds him wounded by a river) Clara, (Sheila Terry) is more natural and a welcome diversion.

However despite all this, it's quite watchable, in a rudimentary sort of way and if it wasn't John Wayne, we wouldn't even be watching it and nor would have TCM bothered to air it, which is where I saw the movie.

This early John Wayne film left a lot to be desired. Nonetheless, for a 1934 low-budget film, it wasn't all that bad. The film's saving grace is that it clocks in at just over 50 minutes. About the time you're getting bored with it and ready to move on, it is over.

‘Neath Arizona Skies is badly in need of restoration. The image quality is fair at best and the sound track is scratchy throughout. However, despite the erosion of time, the story line remains interesting, if predictable. Your typical western, the story traces the hero's (Wayne) attempts to save a half-breed child whose worth $50,000 in oil money.

The young Wayne shows promise of what was to come. He saves the show from otherwise stale acting. One notable exception is Gaby Hayes in an uncredited bit part. He is charming and provides Wayne with a solid support that makes Wayne look better than he probably was at that time. One obvious neglect is costume design. The woman (Shelia Terry) - Wayne's love interest - is dressed in very fashionable 1930s attire, and sticks out like a sore thumb against the men in their buckskins and cowboy hats.

If you can stand bad costuming, fake sound effects and a grainy picture, the film is worth seeing. In others words, if you aren't a diehard Wayne fan, don't bother.

"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.