Arizona (1940) [Region 2] [import]

Columbia Pictures presents "ARIZONA" (1940 125 min/B&W) -- Starring: Jean Arthur, William Holden, Warren William, Porter Hall, Edgar Buchanan & Regis Toomey

Directed by Wesley Ruggles

Wesley Ruggles's Arizona is an epic western set in an impoverished Arizona outpost. It tells the story of the feisty, no-nonsense Phoebe Titus (Jean Arthur). Wearing leather breeches, with a bull whip and gun, she can out-shoot and out-fight nearly every bad hombre in town, and manages to transform the down-and-out community into Tuscon, one of the most respected towns in the West. When handsome Peter Muncie (William Holden) arrives, on his way to California, Phoebe asserts that he is the perfect person to help her run her cattle ranch, and the two fall in love. But one obstacle makes their plans extremely difficult: con man Jefferson Carteret (Warren William), who secretly hatches a plan to cheat Phoebe out of the property and annihilate Peter on the couple's wedding day!

Oscar Nominated for Best Music (Victor Young) & Best Art Direction (B&W)

Columbia Pictures were so pleased with the success of this film that they commissioned a sort-of-follow-up: Texas (1941) which also starred William Holden. Texas (1941)

* Special footnote: -- The set still stands outside Tucson Arizona and is an active studio and Old West theme park called Old Tucson. Since it was built in 1939, Old Tucson has served as the set for many famous Westerns such as Rio Bravo and Tombstone. Little House on the Prairie also used the studios.

BIOS:
1. Wesley Ruggles [Director]
Date of Birth: 11 June 1889 - Los Angeles, California
Date of Death: 8 January 1972 - Santa Monica, California

2. Jean Arthur [aka: Gladys Georgianna Greene]
Date of Birth: 17 October 1900 - Plattsburgh, New York
Date of Death: 19 June 1991 - Carmel, California

3. William Holden [aka: William Franklin Beedle Jr.]
Date of Birth: 17 April 1918 - O'Fallon, Illinois
Date of Death: 16 November 1981 - Santa Monica, California

4. Warren William [aka: Warren William Krech]
Date of Birth: 2 December 1894 - Aitkin, Minnesota
Date of Death: 24 September 1948 - Hollywood, California

5. Porter Hall
Date of Birth: 19 September 1888 - Cincinnati, Ohio
Date of Death: 6 October 1953 - Los Angeles, California

3. Edgar Buchanan
Date of Birth: 20 March 1903 - Humansville, Missouri
Date of Death: 4 April 1979 - Palm Desert, California

Mr. Jim's Ratings:
Quality of Picture & Sound: 4 Stars
Performance: 4 Stars
Story & Screenplay: 4 Stars
Overall: 4 Stars [Original Music, Cinematography & Film Editing]

Total Time: 125 min on DVD ~ Columbia Pictures ~ (December 6, 2005)

In the 1941 western "Arizona," Jean Arthur stars as Phoebe Titus, a frontier hellcat who has gotten the better of every man in Tuscon, circa 1860. Then William Holden shows up as Peter Muncie from Missouri, on his way to California. Phoebe is so smitten with the young lad that she actually takes to wearing dresses, but he wants to get to California. Just to make things worse, local bad guys Jefferson Carteret (Warren William) and Lazarus Ward (Porter Hall) are after her business, stealing her money and having Indians attack her wagon trains. Fortunately, in the best scene in the picture, Peter gets a herd of cattle to stop the attacking Indians, and then the happy couple proceeds to get themselves hitched. Over two hours long, "Arizona" is one of the slowest paced westerns you will ever see. Producer/Director Wesley Ruggles spent a reported $2 million making "Arizona," and apparently could not bear to cut anything of the film he shot. This was Holden's first western, in a part originally intended for Gary Cooper. His performance is okay and he certainly holds his own with Arthur, who was ten years older, and still seems a bit too wholesome to be a frontier heroine.

The quality of the images , for a film of this age, is remarkable.It is a good example of the old type of Western movie, in which the independent person stands up for themselves, against a bigger foe.The big bully is confronted by a spirited individual and others are inspired to unite and stand up for themselves .The treatment of the American Indian is still morally problematic and the way they are portrayed in old western movies would probably not be the same today, although there are things to be said on both sides of that particular question.
I bought the film because we have been going western riding on American ranches, for many years.One of our favourite ranches is the White Stallion, near Tucson, and this is one of many films and cowboy TV series shot on and near the ranch or at the nearby Old Tucson movie set.My husband loves cowboy myths, the old fashioned charm and hospitality of the West, and we love riding in the spectacular Sonoran Desert.
The film is a great reminder of the fun we have had in the US, and also highlights how remarkably young the country still is.The defence of right against wrong, and standing on your own two feet, are still powerful themes in American culture, particularly in the western states .