'Neath the Arizona Skies is a 1934 Western film directed by Harry L. Fraser,
produced by Lone Star Productions, released by Monogram Pictures
and starring John Wayne.
Wayne's character attempts to locate a little girl's father,
so that she may claim a $50,000 Indian oil claim.
The film co-stars Sheila Terry, Shirley Jean Rickert, and George "Gabby" Hayes
I am biased towards, these Lone Star films.
I enjoy all of them, for all their whirlwind, few days, low budget filming,
they are a joy, and fun to watch.
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Duke, was to learn his trade in these films,and in this one Yak, as usual played a villain.
Yak was supposed to make a getaway in a railroad handcar.
Duke was to race over a hill on horseback and intercept the railroad in a canyon,
then gallop alongside it, and leap onto the car, from his horse.
Yak said,
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Paul Malvern, who was handling production, knew that I doubled for Wayne, and did my own part as well....
However he overlooked bringing out another stuntman. We were getting set up to do the stunt,
when it dawned on the director, that if I doubled Wayne, someone would have to double me.
No one else there, was the right shape or size, Duke and Yak looked at one another, and nodded,
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Duke told Yak
They exchanged clothes, and Yak doubled for Wayne, and Vice versa.
Good stuff, heh!! No wonder this set of movies, are so popular.
User Review
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Guarding An Inheritance
12 April 2007 | by bkoganbing (Buffalo, New York)
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.
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