Sure, it has all your typical elements of a Western: town with a big bad boss, hero who rides in from the horizon, the reluctant sheriff, stagecoach robberies, themes of guns vs. the rule of law. So at first you think this is going to be the kind of Western that John Wayne languished in between 1930's "Big Trail" and 1939's "Stagecoach", but it is more than that, even minus John Wayne. This has some things which distinguish it. The dialog is well done. It's direct, spare, understated, and, when it needs to be, hard. Richard Dix is especially good in this kind of environment. It also has some crisp direction by Charles Vidor, best known, I suppose, for Gilda, who makes the conventional final shoot-out thoroughly unconventional. The movie stumbles worst with the inclusion of a love triangle between the hero, his brother, and the woman between them. All the people die who are supposed to, though sometimes in a surprising way, and the West is made safe for civilized people. Good support from Margot Grahame, and Preston Foster.
Review of The Arizonian
