Voxitype
Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.
Dirtylogy
It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.
Aiden Melton
The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.
vincentlynch-moonoi
By coincidence, just as this film came along on TCM, I happened to be planning a trip to Arizona. Surprisingly, there's a fair amount of decent history here...no, not so much in specific facts, but in terms of what was happening in the period. And, if you want to know what the earliest years of Tucson were really like, this may give you a pretty good idea. It was filmed just a few miles west of Tucson at "Old Tucson" where several famous westerns have been made, and at what is now Saguaro National Park (west unit). So this movie has the right look and feel to it.Knowing what the film was about in advance, I had a difficult time seeing Jean Arthur in the lead role. But, darn, she was very good here...although it's a very long way from films like "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington" and other comedies of hers in that era. Of course, she eventually did go on to star in "Shane". But this film is definitely against type for her.Her costar -- William Holden -- is so young here (only 22) that you may have difficulty recognizing him! But he does just fine also.Warren William is excellent as the bad guy you want to hate. The other character actors here do very well.This is an excellent film, although there is one bit of illogical action. Apparently horses belonging to White cattle drovers run faster than horses belonging to Indians, since the cattle drovers outrode the cattle, but the cattle stampeded the Indians. Ah well, it moved the plot along.Recommended.
perfectbond
At the risk of sounding jingoistic, this film shows in microcosm how the greatest nation the world has ever known, the United States of America, came into being. It was literally carved from the wilderness by brave frontier men and women who are played as archetypes of those heroes and heroines by screen legends William Holden (one of my favorites) and Jean Arthur (Mr. Deeds, Only Angels Have Wings, The Talk of the Town). The very precarious existence of America's pioneers is presented with stark realism in this entirely plausible film. For those who only celebrate the Fourth of July by enjoying the fireworks, let them understand the hardships (and triumphs) their ancestors faced . Terrific period drama. 7/10.
rpgray7
The story line in this film is basically fictional, but real names of people who lived in Tucson, Arizona Territory, in the late nineteenth century are given to members of the cast, and the set that was created specifically for its production still exists just over the hill from the real Tucson of today. As someone who remembers visiting that set during filming in 1940, I am still impressed by the place and by this film. Jean Arthur's character was indeed a prototype of the independent frontierswoman . But even more important from the perspective of today as I stand among the remnants of the old set (still used, together with a sound stage on the property, to produce "Westerns") and look back sixty years just as the producers looked back sixty years for their story, I think of it as a story within a story. Anyone visiting Arizona today would do well to think of the film "Arizona" as a true picture of 1880 and, in another context, of 1940, and let their imaginations wander. The social attitudes and mores of both periods stand in great contrast to those of the 21st century.
segstef
This movie has every thing a western lover wants-shoot-out,cattle drive,Native American conflict,Calvarymen,strong leading lady character who is independent,but falls for the hero. and a hero who takes a supporting role,but grabs my attention every time he is on the screen. Different from most characters that William Holden plays, not cynical. The suspense at the end was so real; I could feel the same emotions as the character played by Jean Arthur.
