Edgar Allan Pooh . . . of Western Do-Gooders providing Modern Medicine enabling population explosions in Developing Countries, but then failing to follow up by supplying the food and peace-keeping forces necessary to keep these unprecedented Hordes of Humanity Safe and Happy. 'NEATH THE ARIZONA SKIES tackles a similar Moral Dilemma. Is it Ethical to provide Native Americans with staggering sums of mineral royalties, endangering Traditional Life Styles and Culture? Half-indigenous "Nina" stands to be awarded $50,000 as SKIES begins (about twice Donald Trump's current net worth, adjusted for inflation). Around eight years old, this causes Nina nothing but trouble, as she's kidnapped or shot around again and again by typical Red State Greedheads. Anyone who currently lives near an "Indian Reservation" knows that many are awash in European-mode money, thanks to mineral royalties or gambling casinos foisted upon them by Government Do-Gooders. Most of these so-called "Sovereign Nations" are consequently roiled up in a perpetual state of Civil War, as the Illusion of Western Wealth causes continual factional in-fighting, often resulting in the one-sixteenths or Grandfathered-in White Tribal Members "Disenrolling" wholes and half-bloods from their Tribes. A close viewing of SKIES suggests that these hundreds of tribes should be combined into one, and given a region such as the Alleghenies, Great Lakes, or Southwest for an ACTUAL independent Homeland on which to revive their Traditional Culture. Then all Current or Past Enrollees could decide whether to be Native OR American (including U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren).

dougdoepke Average Wayne-Lone Star matinée special. Chris (Wayne) is trying to secure oil money for fatherless Indian girl Nina (Rickert). Sam Black (a good name for bad guy Canutt) and his gang are trying to kidnap the girl and hijack the money. Nothing exceptional here, other than some good outdoor action and a clever Canutt-devised stunt with rope and a tree. For fans of Gabby Hayes, his likably grouchy character is almost complete. For me, the highlight was seeing Lone Star regular Earl Dwire actually play a good guy (Tom) for once. With his considerably less than handsome features, he fits the bad guy stereotype. So his role here amounts to a welcome departure showing that you don't have to look like a Wayne to play a good guy. Fairly scenic locations, not the Sierras unfortunately, but not the treeless LA scrublands either. Strikingly pretty Sheila Terry as Clara doesn't have much to do other than ride horseback in a dress, no less, and with the boys. Note the plunge off the cliff into the water. This was a popular stunt of the time and a fittingly dramatic end to a chase sequence. I can't tell whether this one is a stock shot from another film or not. But, never mind, since it's a grabber anyway. All in all, an entertaining 50 minutes, but nothing special.

suchenwi When your child presents its newest painting, a parent often doesn't apply art critic standards, but just enjoys and applauds it. Funnily, I'm somehow feeling the same for Lone Star westerns.I've started to discover them only yesterday, when I bought The Lucky Texan at the supermarket, for €2.99. I watched it, torn between disbelief and fascination.. and went back to the shop the same night, and bought all others they had, Diamond Valley, West of the Divide, Neath the Arizona Skies. And had an increasingly joyful weekend with them :) The more I watched, the more I got a warm fuzzy feeling, the cast of John Wayne, George Hayes, Yakima Canutt.. Up to and including the Ford Model T, which featured in the others, but not this one - and I already missed it.But what Arizona Skies offers, in addition to the usual welcome fare, is the "Indian" girl (who happens to call for Daddy Chris in unsuitable situations), the lasso/elevator trick which made me laugh out loud, the cliff-to-river stunt.. The hostage exchange and the last bullet idea were good, too.This is a different kind of cinema from what I normally watch. Somehow more resembling old TV serials, like Bonanza (and some 30 years older than that). I can only say it gave me a good fun time, and I'm looking forward to the next items I'll find.

keesha45 This rates as the worst of the Duke's early shoot-em-ups that this writer has seen. Still, the worst John Wayne western has much to offer. My big beefs are that the plot line has a hole in it so big you could drive a stagecoach through it. The hero Chris Morrell meets a girl named Clara who turns out to be the sister of his slain friend Bud Moore. Later, she introduces him to her brother Jim, who earlier had switched shirts and hats with an unconscious Chris at the riverbank. Yet, despite being best friend to her brother, Chris doesn't seem to know that Bud had a sister AND a brother who is a bad enough hombre that his first appearance in this film is robbing an express office. Even more implausible is that Clara doesn't recognize the shirt that Chris is wearing at the riverbank as being identical to one belonging to her brother, especially since it appears as something so dressy that no self-respecting cowboy would wear it in public except to a dance. Another bigger beef that rates as a GOOF comes at the movie's beginning. While packing Nina's clothes for their journey,Chris tells her they're heading north to find her dad. Since they're still presumably in Oklahoma, which is east but not south of Arizona, a northward journey means the picture should be retitled "Neath Nebraska Skies." Despite its faults, it's a pretty typical B western with not much to distinguish it from Wayne's other Lone Star pictures, except for the Shirley Temple wannabe they stuck in this picture. Shirley had nothing to fear from the competition here. Dale Roloff