Arizona Gunfighter (1937)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Sam Newfield

Writers:

Harry F. Olmsted (story)
George H. Plympton (screenplay)

Release Date:

24 September 1937 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Plot:

When Colt kills the men that murdered his father, he escapes his pursuers and joins Wolf and his outlaw gang...

Plot Keywords:

Father | Murder | Revenge

Cast

Bob Steele	...	Colt Ferron ("The Arizona Gunfighter")
Jean Carmen	...	Beth Lorimer
Ted Adams	...	Wolf Whitson / Pop Whittaker
Ernie Adams	...	Grizzly Barr
Lew Meehan	...	Snake Bralt
Steve Clark	...	Sheriff
John Merton	...	Farley (Durkin henchman)
Karl Hackett	...	Rancher Durkin
A.C. Henderson	...	Governor Gray
Frank Ball	...	Dan Lorimer

Runtime:

58 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:Approved (PCA #3597)

Company:

Supreme Pictures

"The longer a man dances, the more he owes the fiddler."

Finally a 'B' Western that doesn't have anything to do with land rights, water rights, mining rights, railroad right of way, or a town boss too big for his britches. "Arizona Gunfighter" is also unusual in other ways as well, not the least of which is cowboy star Bob Steele portraying both a hero and an outlaw. When Colt Ferron (Steele) attempts to avenge his father's murder at the hands of a rancher named Durkin, he shoots both Durkin and his man Farley, invoking the name of the legendary gunman. However he takes a bullet himself, collapsing with loss of blood and saved by Wolf Whitson (Ted Adams) and his band of Jack Pine Mountain Outlaws. Reared back to health by Whitson, Colt decides to stay on to repay that debt and to escape the law for the deaths of two men.

Wolf heads up a veritable menagerie of outlaws with names like Grizzly Barr (Ernie Adams) and Snake Bralt (Lew Meehan), and when his gang rustles cattle from the local ranchers, Whitson winds up returning them to the unfortunate victims - this is not your normal bandit. Eventually, Wolf disbands his gang, heading out of the territory with his now loyal friend Colt. In other parts of the territory, Wolf's known as Pop Whitaker, harboring other secrets as well.

Trouble ensues when Snake reunites the Pine Mountain Outlaws once again, this time raiding local ranchers. Imagine Colt's surprise when he learns that Wolf is now in prison, having given himself up for his criminal past. As a common citizen, Colt gets the governor to go along with a plan to allow two outlaws, Wolf and the Arizona Gunfighter, to bring the Pine Mountain gang to justice. When the governor agrees, Colt Ferron changes his outfit to all black, as befitting his reputation.

It seems a bit more thought than usual went into this oater, with original dialog and an interesting story that puts to shame all the John Wayne Lone Star Westerns of the same era. Even the film's romantic lead, Jean Carmen as Beth Lorimer, picks up a six gun in a final showdown between the good guys and bad guys. It also turns out that Wolf/Pop Whitaker is really Beth's father, another plot element that takes you by surprise. Until that was mentioned though, I had some queasy moments throughout the film when Colt and the much older Wolf exchanged furtive glances and smiles in a Brokeback Mountain sort of way.

Westerns wound up being good to Bob Steele, he performed in nearly two hundred of them spanning half a century, even performing in some classic TV Westerns like "Colt .45" and "Have Gun Will Travel". The young Steele resembled Gene Autry a bit, with a confident and professional approach to his craft, as evidenced by his turn as the "Arizona Gunfighter".