There’s trouble afoot in Silver City, and the man behind the thievery is Sheriff Mannon (Louis Calhern).
In addition to being crooked, he’s got his mind set on winning over pretty saloon girl Kitty Rivers (Margot Grahame), who already has a guy named Orin Tallant.
When Kitty decides to leave town on an outgoing stage, Mannon has his men hold it up to bring her back.
She winds up back in Silver City, sure enough, but she returns riding alongside Orin’s brother Clay Tallant (Richard Dix). He rescued her from Mannon’s henchmen.
When he learns what Mannon is up to, Clay decides to take the marshal’s badge and prohibit prohibits guns in town.
He also finds an unlikely ally when Mannon brings in gunman Tex Randolph (Preston Foster), only to watch him switch sides and become a deputy under Clay.
The other complication: Kitty has fallen for Clay and vice versa. But Clay doesn’t feel free to act on his feelings because he knows his younger brother loves Kitty, too.
Richard Dix as Clay Tallant, marching toward a showdown in The Arizonian (1935)
Margot Grahame as Kitty Rivers, describing Clay Tallant’s showdown with Keeler in The Arizonian (1935)
Review:
After the success of “Cimarron” (1931), Richard Dix wound up appearing in a long string of so-so Westerns, even though he wasn’t exactly the most exciting on-screen personality. In fact, Preston Foster steals the show here as his once-lawless sidekick.
The best thing about the film is the intriguing final scene, in which Clay, Tex and Orin Tallent walk into a haze of smoke from a fire at the jail, guns blazing, for a final showdown with the baddies.
Margot Grahame gets to sing a spirited version of “Roll Along Covered Wagon” early in the film. Etta McDaniel, her servant, brings the film full circle by singing the same song as the surviving heroes leave Silver City after the shooting has ended.
And there’s not an Earp, Holliday or Clanton brother to be found, but the script borrows heavily from the story of Tombstone and the showdown at the O.K. Corral.
Louis Calhern as Sheriff Mannon, the crooked lawman used to getting his way in Silver City in The Arizonian (1935)
Joe Sawyer as Keeler, a Mannon henchman weighing the wisdom of a showdown with Clay Tallant in The Arizonian (1935)
Directed by:
Charles Vidor
Cast:
Richard Dix … Clay Tallant
Margot Grahame … Kitty Rivers
Preston Foster … Tex Randolph
Louis Calhern … Sheriff Mannon
James Bush … Orin Tallant
J. Farrell MacDonald … Marshal Jordan
Ray Mayer … Frank McCloskey
Willie Best … Pompey
Joe Sawyer … Keeler
Francis Ford … Mayor Ed Comstock
Etta McDaniel … Sarah
Runtime: 75 min.
Preston Fosterr as Tex Randolph, the gunman who befriends the man he was supposed to kill in The Arizonian (1935)
James Bush as Orin Tallant, wondering if he should be jealous over Kitty’s infatuation with his brother in The Arizonian (1935)
Memorable lines:
Town leader, taking the marshal’s badge from Clay: “Don’t you want to keep it?. We’ll pay you $200 per month.”
Clay, having just watched an outlaw be fined $25 for killing the previous marshal: “Marshals at $25 a head. I don’t figure this town’s my size.”
Servant woman: “When you do wed, you want to get a woman of experience. Now I’ve had three husbands, and they’s all singing with the angels.”
Harp player: “I ain’t got no ambition to play in that quartet.”
Tex to Clay, about a Mannon man who’s been gunned down: “What’s laying out there is too full of lead to hold whiskey.”
Willie Best as Pompey, about to roll the dice of matrimony with Kitty’s servant Sarah (Etta McDaniel) in The Arizonian (1935)
Edward Van Sloan as Judge Cody, the man who makes it more difficult for Clay Tallant to hold Mannon’s men accountable in The Arizonian (1935)
Ray Mayer as Frank McCloskey and Joe Sawyer as Keeler, two of Mannon’s gunmen in The Arizonian (1935)
Richard Dix as Clay Tallant with Silver City Mayor Ed Comstrock (Francis Ford) in The Arizonian (1935)
Margot Grahame as Kitty Rivers, coming to the aid of boyfriend Orin Tallant (James Bush) after a run-in with Mannon’s men in The Arizonian (1935)
Preston Foster as Tex Randolph and Richard Dix as Clay Tallant, forging their alliance in The Arizonian (1935)
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