Arizona (1931)

Director:

George B. Seitz

Writers:

Dorothy Howell (continuity)
Robert Riskin (adaptation) (dialogue)

Release Date:

27 June 1931 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

While at West Point Denton rebuffs Evelyn Palmer who shows up later as the wife of his commanding officer in Arizona...

Plot Keywords:

Colonel | Sister | Arizona | West Point | Commanding Officer

Cast

Laura La Plante	...	Evelyn Palmer Bonham
John Wayne	...	Lt. Bob Denton
June Clyde	...	Bonita 'Bonnie' Palmer
Forrest Stanley	...	Colonel Frank Bonham
Nina Quartero	...	Conchita

Also Known As:

Men Are Like That (USA) (review title)
The Virtuous Wife (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

70 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Movie Connections:

Version of Arizona (1918)

Weepy, slight early 1930s melodrama

I suppose this is what they used to call a "woman's picture." Laura LaPlante, a fetching, if gnomish blonde, plays Evelyn Palmer, a New York girl (what she does for a living is never revealed) who's been dallying with dashing West Point cadet Bob Denton, played robotically by a very young & handsome John Wayne. When she is dumped unceremoniously before Bob's graduation, Evelyn woos & eventually marries his mentor, Colonel Bonham, played by Forrest Stanley more like a stuffed-shirt British army officer than an American who's spent years in Arizona. The big complication is that, once the newlywed Bonhams relocate to Arizona, Denton shows up for duty &, despite Evelyn's triumphant attitude toward him, Denton takes a fancy to Evelyn's sister, Bonnie, who's the cutest flapper I've seen in ages.

This plot, made today, might have a bit more nastiness in that; it's as close to a "Cruel Intentions" as you're going to get in 1931. That Bob & Evelyn are having a sexual relationship is implied, of course, & it's amusing how, later in the picture, every time someone's about to say it, that person is interrupted or hushed. More than that, though I saw this on the Starz Western channel, it's more like your average sophisticated thirties melodrama than a western. The cigarettes are in boxes, gowns are worn to dinner, & the Colonel's house in Arizona is strictly Long Island.

The film features some amusing stock footage of an Army-Navy football game, as well as military maneuvers. But without giving anything away, the film unwinds & then winds up in a pretty cliched manner. For John Wayne fans, it's bound to be extremely disappointing, but for those of us who are intrigued by the early days of Hollywood, good & bad, it's not such a bad way to spend an hour. But it was way too silly to be moving, & it's by the numbers mix-up plot never really generates any suspense.