Au coeur de l'Arizona

"Belle Star" (Natalie Moorhead) is not a woman to be messed with after she returns after an unjust five year spell with Uncle Sam to discover that her herds are being rustled. We know it's her dodgy foreman "Trister" (Leo J. McMahon) who is up to no good, and we know just who is pulling his strings but can she thwart their plan to rob her of her livelihood? Luckily, "Hoppy" (William Boyd) is on hand to try and help her get to the bottom of just who killed her husband and framed her for stealing her own cows! The deft use of some branding, some fine shooting from the young "Artie" (Billy Peters) and an hidden coin all contribute to the adventure as "Hoppy" determines to get his man. The production here is really basic, but there's more of a story and as ever the dynamic between Boyd and "Gabby" Hayes keeps the pace moving swiftly along. Moorhead and her on-screen daughter "Jacqueline" (Dorothy Short) also deliver at the livelier end of the damsels-in-distress scale and there's Stephen Chase's "Ringo" to keep the nastiness going, too. It's not the most original, no, but for a low-budget affair it's actually quite exciting and worth an hour.

In the 1950s, many old series B-westerns were chopped down to a length that would allow them to be placed in a one-hour time slot. Because of this, it's common to find multiple versions of Roy Rogers, Gene Autry and Hopalong Cassidy films. The version of "Heart of Arizona" I saw on YouTube is the recently restored one that returns the picture to its original 68 minute run time.

The story does what MANY series westerns did back in the day...it uses the name of a real life western figure but completely fictionalizes them. In this case, early in the story, a deputy is manhandling Belle Starr following her release from prison. Hoppy witnesses this and like you'd expect, he stands up for her...decking the deputy and freeing her.

Later, after Belle arrives at her ranch, she realizes she has a problem...someone has been stealing her cattle. But how will she and Hoppy find out who's behind all this wickedness?

"Heart of Arizona" is enjoyable but not especially well written. Not only does it fictionalize Starr, but there are some serious logical problems with the script. In one case, a 9 or 10 year-old boy is given a gun and told to guard a prisoner....and this happens two different times!! The worst, however, was near the end when the sheriff is about to make an arrest on the gang who is rustling. He approaches this group of criminals alone...no backup whatsoever!! Take a WILD guess what happens next?!?! The writers just were a bit lazy in this one.

Two-faced cowpoke Twister steals a herd of cattle and pins the blame on Hoppy's unfortunate friend, Lucky. But Hoppy and Windy aren't buying Twister's tale and set out to clear their buddy's name. Guns are blazin' on Belle Starr's ranch for a final showdown between the good hombres and the bad hombres!

Heart of Arizona isn't the most action-packed Hoppy, but it has a robust plot, it's a little unusual regarding the Belle Starr angle and it has some grand rugged scenery. The focus isn't so much on Hoppy but the rest of the cast. Gabby Hayes' comic one liners are great. William Boyd'd acting is grand as usual. Strange downbeat ending.

Seeing that there were few A-westerns in the 30s until the explosion of 1939, I have watched a few B-westerns of that time to see what they were like. This one I chose as representative of the Hopalong Cassidy film series. There were 66 of these films. Just in 1938, seven of them were filmed. When B-westerns phased out in the late 40s, the star William Boyd bought the rights and the films were again successful on TV, spawning a TV show. Hoppy was sure a household name at that time in the US.

So what's the film like? Well, while still clearly being a B-western, it has better production values than most, with gorgeous scenery. This one is 68 minutes long, slightly longer than the typical B-western.

The story is straightforward and filled with action, as expected of these films. There's a lot of shooting. Almost every character got shot at some point. It does get a bit convoluted at the end, but not much. Hoppy is not on screen all the time, but relies on his supporting cast to drive the story forward, unlike other B-western stars of the time.

Not great drama, but a sure way to keep the kids happy at the theater with some cowboy action, while they waited for the main part of the double feature.

If the chief female had not been called "Belle Starr," which was the name of a real person in the annals of the West, this would have been more in line with the rest of the Hoppy series. But that's a very minor problem.

Playing La Starr is an obvious stage actress, Natalie Moorhead. Because she's an obvious city slicker, she should not have been cast as a long-time Westerner; but her character could more easily have been a fairly recent immigrant. Still, only a very minor problem. Suspend your disbelief.

And enjoy William Boyd as Hopalong Cassidy. Boyd was undoubtedly one of the very finest actors to play the lead in a Western series. There is a subtlety in his every move and gesture, in his facial expressions, that show that, if it hadn't been for that ugly "news" paper error early in his career (when another William Boyd was arrested and our guy's picture ran), he might have been a huge mainstream star. He certainly deserved it. He certainly had the talent.

Russell Hayden gave a magnificent performance, surely one of his best. He was a good-looking guy and was a wonderful cowboy. His acting was uneven later, and he often sounded as if he had bad-fitting dentures, but here he was just perfect, a real pleasure to watch.

Dorothy Short gave another of her excellent performances, and George Hayes played his "Windy" character also to perfection. He too, by the way, was actually a city slicker -- well, sort of. In his bio at IMDb is this comment: "In real life he was the exact opposite of the characters he played on film. He was well read, well-groomed, serious and highly philosophical."

He reportedly did not even learn to ride a horse until he was 50, but few actors are more identified with Westerns than Hayes, and probably even fewer are and were more beloved. Any movie is better for his presence.

The other players were talented and the script-writer gave many of them a chance to shine -- which they do.

Paramount produced dusty and gritty Westerns, often showing the dusty and gritty ranch life, and often doing so better than other studios. Perhaps especially in the Hopalong series.

I highly recommend "Heart of Arizona," and you can find a very good copy at YouTube.