Lightning reviews are first impressions of movies I’ve yet to research for more detailed articles. Unlike my more polished full reviews there is little to no research here; sparse images and links; a more relaxed writing style. These are movies I’d love to eventually cover with a more fully developed article, but until time permits, here’s the short version:The names are changed, but it’s the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral story … Richard Dix as Clay is not far from Wyatt Earp, nor is Preston Foster’s Tex Randolph too big a stretch from Doc Holliday … Clay even has a little brother, Orin (James Bush), who appears to have picked up some lessons with the gun from big brother … Orin mostly there for the love story with Kitty Rivers (Margot Grahame) … Orin loves Kitty, but Kitty meets Clay … Clay falls for Kitty, but backs off once he realizes little brother loves her … minor conflict between Clay and Orin … Kitty also has to fend off attention of county sheriff Jake Mannen (Louis Calhern), who’s basically the Ike Clanton of our piece … Mannen’s boys aren’t blood relation, but a group of henchmen led by Keeler (Joe Sawyer) … Mannen and company run the town, even have a crooked judge (Edward Van Sloan!) installed to make sure all goes his way … quiet, intense Clay (Dix) arrives and is coaxed into accepting the Marshall’s badge by the Mayor (Francis Ford) … Tex (Foster) arrives as Mannen’s hired firepower, but he and Clay have each heard of each other and wind up throwing in together … Clay deputizes Tex … The Arizonian is often predictable, yet never takes the easy way to any situation … characters are smart, and even if we know where they’re going, they aren’t as simple as black or white … conflict is subtle, believable, quiet … Willie Best and Etta McDaniel on hand in what begins as stereotypical African American period roles, but develop into something more … their characters are the least predictable aspect to The Arizonian … Dix and Foster work great side-by-side … Dix a haunting presence as Clay … Clay seems to have a backstory that would curl your hair, but we never get a whiff of it … it’s told entirely by reputation and reaction … Calhern can play sleazy in any setting … Margot Grahame okay … climactic action takes place when the baddies are waiting at a generic corral … directed by Charles Vidor from a Dudley Nichols story … my IMDb rating: 7/10.
I was blown away by the final act of “The Arizonian”. It was reworked in 1939 as “The Marshal of Mesa City” with George O’Brien and Henry Brandon. Also worth a look.
You’ve just got to let out a cheer for that, right? Thanks, I’m admittedly light on ’30s Westerns, not my favorite genre, but Dix brought me to the party.
We all have a role to play, and I’m determined to play mine to the hilt. You, me, Richard Dix – that’s what I call a party.