Heart of Arizona (1938) User Reviews

Belle Starr, A True Blue Gal

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 15 February 2008]

I can't recall another Hopalong Cassidy film where William Boyd got involved with a character from the real west. Possibly fans more versed in Hopalong Cassidy films can correct me, but in this film Hoppy gets to meet up with none other than the legendary female outlaw Belle Starr.

Belle's a good stand by your man kind of woman. When her husband was caught at rustling and as Hoppy explains it we're not clear if she knew anything about it. Still when the posse came she shot it out with them and did a stretch in the joint. Now she's back and as luck would have it her spread is next to the Bar 20. She's got a daughter Jacqueline Starr and the Starrs Belle and Jacqueline are played by Natalie Moorhead and Dorothy Short.

Unbeknownst to Belle her foreman, Alden Chase, is still using the Starr ranch as a cover for rustling. It's up to Hoppy and his two trusty companions Russell Hayden and Gabby Hayes to set things right.

The real Belle Starr was born in Missouri and did her outlaw thing in Oklahoma then called Indian Territory. In fact Belle's husband Sam Starr was an Indian. Unlike sweet innocent Jacqueline, Belle's real daughter Pearl Starr became a known prostitute and operator of several bordellos in the Old west.

There was a famous film with her as the central title character that starred Gene Tierney. But it wasn't any closer to the truth than this film.

Still it's not a bad film for the Hopalong Cassidy series.

Not one of the better written Hopalong Cassidy flicks.

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 8 August 2020]

In the 1950s, many old series B-westerns were chopped down to a length that would allow them to be placed in a one-hour time slot. Because of this, it's common to find multiple versions of Roy Rogers, Gene Autry and Hopalong Cassidy films. The version of "Heart of Arizona" I saw on YouTube is the recently restored one that returns the picture to its original 68 minute run time.

The story does what MANY series westerns did back in the day...it uses the name of a real life western figure but completely fictionalizes them. In this case, early in the story, a deputy is manhandling Belle Starr following her release from prison. Hoppy witnesses this and like you'd expect, he stands up for her...decking the deputy and freeing her.

Later, after Belle arrives at her ranch, she realizes she has a problem...someone has been stealing her cattle. But how will she and Hoppy find out who's behind all this wickedness?

"Heart of Arizona" is enjoyable but not especially well written. Not only does it fictionalize Starr, but there are some serious logical problems with the script. In one case, a 9 or 10 year-old boy is given a gun and told to guard a prisoner....and this happens two different times!! The worst, however, was near the end when the sheriff is about to make an arrest on the gang who is rustling. He approaches this group of criminals alone...no backup whatsoever!! Take a WILD guess what happens next?!?! The writers just were a bit lazy in this one.

"Rocks last much longer than flowers. Put some on my grave" : Belle.

[weezeralfalfa · 6/10 · 30 January 2019]

This issue of the Hopalong Cassidy film series features Natalie Moorhead as the supposed historical associate of various badmen in the West: Belle Starr. Dorothy Short plays her supposed daughter :Jackie. While Jackie is portrayed as an innocent girlfriend for Lucky, Belle's real daughter: Pearl, was a well known prostitute and owner of several bordellos.........As in many of Hoppy's films the primary filming location is the unique Alabama Hills, at the eastern foot of the High Sierras.........It's a complicated story, often not believable in details. Nearly all the main characters are either wounded or killed by bullets. The principle bad guys die, but so do Belle and the sheriff. Hoppy, Windy and Lucky are all wounded at different times, but soon return to action..........In the beginning, Belle is returning to her ranch, after spending 5 years in the pen for aiding her thieving husband in fighting a posse.. Very strangely!, the stagecoach she is riding in comes to a stop in the middle of nowhere, for no apparent reason. Soon, the sheriff and Hoppy separately show up. She emerges, and the sheriff suggests she best go to the saloons of Nogales, near the Mexican border. But, Hoppy nixes that idea. He lends her his horse, Topper, so she can ride to her ranch. On the way, she meets her father plus Jackie........At the nearby Bar 20 ranch, where Hoppy, Lucky, and Windy are employed, manager Buck Peters assigns the new recruit Twister along with Lucky, to watch his herd of pedigree Herfords. During their watch, Jackie rides to near the herd, apparently to socialize with Lucky. But, on the way, her horse rears up and dumps her, when it sees a rattlesnake. Lucky sees this, and rides to her rescue, as her horse ran away. He accompanies her back to Belle's ranch house. Meanwhile, Twister communicates with Belle's forman, Ringo, and the owner of an adjacent ranch: Trimmer, who are bargaining the price Trimmer will pay for rustled cattle. Then, a band of rustlers appear to move the cattle. Later,Twister contacts Hoppy, and tells that the cattle were stolen during the thunderstorm, and that Lucky had gone off to see Jackie. Hoppy is mad, and beats Twister, implying that he has evidence of slaughtered cattle on him. Twister escapes, and later sees Hoppy on the range as he is hiding among some trees. He raises his rifle to kill Hoppy, but Artie: the young teen nephew of Buck, happens to see Twister, and shoots him dead. Then, the sheriff, seeking Lucky to charge him with rustling and murdering Twister, finds and wounds Lucky. Hoppy and Windy have reason to believe Twister had been to an abandoned mine on Trimmers property, recently. Thus, they check out this mine, and find evidence of slaughtered cattle(sounds weird to me). Later, Windy returns, but Trimmer wounds him. In turn, Windy kills Trimmer, then signals to Artie(by mirror!) to bring recruits from the Bar 20. Meanwhile, the sheriff checks out some of the corralled steers that Ringo and his men are handling, and finds evidence that some belong to Belle, even though they aren't branded. He charges Ringo with stealing cattle, but Ringo shoots him dead. The rustlers arrive to where Hoppy and the women are, behind a stone ledge, and begin shooting. Eventually, inexplicably, Belle goes out into the open, and walks toward the rustlers!? She is soon mortally wounded. Hoppy goes to help her, and is wounded, before he retreats. He shoots Ringo dead, then, soon, the Bar 20 posse arrives, and the remaining rustlers give up. Before she dies, Belle has some last words with Hoppy, whom she loved. The last scene has people around Belle's grave, piled with rocks, as she had requested of Hoppy.........Incidentally, an outlaw called Ringo was a notorious gunslinger and rustler near Tombstone, AZ when Wyatt Earp was there. He was often referred to as 'The King of the Cowboys". Sorry, Roy(Rogers)........... See this at YouTube.

Where's Hoppy?

[wrbtu · 20 May 2002]

First, a trivia question for those of you who have seen this film already: what was the name of the horse Hoppy rides throughout most of this movie? This is a fairly good Hopalong Cassidy movie with too little of Hoppy. He's known for being off-screen more & sharing more of the footage with his side-kicks & other characters than his main rivals, Gene Autry & Roy Rogers. And indeed, one of the reasons the Hoppy movies were better than the others is that he was not center screen at all times. But in this movie, he "underdoes" it, & there's just too little seen of him during the film. The main character of this film almost seems to be Lucky, & he may well have more on-screen minutes than Hoppy. We do learn some interesting things, though, about the main film characters. If we're to believe George "Gabby" Hayes (in his character of Windy), he says to Hoppy "I learned you how to ride" (& Hoppy accepts the statement as if it were true). We learn that a "California collar" is slang for a "noose" (so why was Andy Clyde known as "California" in the later Hoppy movies?). We learn how Windy lost his teeth ("A Cheyenne chief knocked all my teeth out in a hand to hand duel...That happened at the Battle of Bull's Tail" (ha! Get it?). We learn that Lucky has been at the Bar 20 Ranch less than 5 years at the time of this story. This film is more violent than later Hoppy movies (Windy is seemingly shot, Lucky is grazed in the head with a bullet, Hoppy is wounded in the arm, & the character of Belle Starr is shot twice). After a few moments, I noticed how beautiful the rock scenery was (but the story is set in Arizona, near Nogales, Mexico); little did I know how significant the rocks would be to the story. Hoppy is dressed all in black (a good sign, see my other Hoppy reviews), but he lends Topper to someone else, & rides a plain brown horse for most of the movie. How odd! And (answer to trivia question) the name of this horse was Yuma. Strange that Hoppy should mention that horse's name but never mentions that his own horse is named Topper. Uncharacteristically, Hoppy really loses his temper in one scene where he slaps a baddie silly, & says "Say something, or I'll smash your brains in!" My, what violence! Mistake: Gabby Hayes trips over William Boyd's foot while trying to mount his horse. Since there was no comment on this, & no laugh, I'd have to assume that it was accidental. Second problem: Natalie Moorhead (a decent actress) plays Belle Starr as if she were on the Broadway stage. Her mannerisms & speech are too refined for a wild west rustler who just spent time in jail. Unlike most movies, everyone in the listed cast had a part big enough to be readily identifiable when the end credits came on. Despite all the shooting, Hoppy himself was involved in only one of the gunfights. I rate it 6/10.

Heart of Arizona

[coltras35 · 6/10 · 28 February 2024]

Two-faced cowpoke Twister steals a herd of cattle and pins the blame on Hoppy's unfortunate friend, Lucky. But Hoppy and Windy aren't buying Twister's tale and set out to clear their buddy's name. Guns are blazin' on Belle Starr's ranch for a final showdown between the good hombres and the bad hombres!

Heart of Arizona isn't the most action-packed Hoppy, but it has a robust plot, it's a little unusual regarding the Belle Starr angle and it has some grand rugged scenery. The focus isn't so much on Hoppy but the rest of the cast. Gabby Hayes' comic one liners are great. William Boyd'd acting is grand as usual. Strange downbeat ending.

5 is an exceptionally generous mark!

[JohnHowardReid · 5/10 · 6 February 2018]

Copyright 22 April 1938 by Paramount Pictures, Inc. New York opening at the Central, as the top half of a double bill with State Police: 15 April 1938. U.S. release: 22 April 1938. Australian release: 5 January 1939. 6,116 feet. 68 minutes.

SYNOPSIS: Sheriff Hawley attempts to restrain Belle Starr from returning to her ranch after serving five years in prison for an unjust conviction of being implicated in the cattle rustling activities of her ruthless husband. Hopalong Cassidy gallantly comes to her rescue, and by lending his horse, allows her to escape. "Twister" schemes to deliver Bar 20 cattle to Trimmer Winkler, crafty cattle speculator, but is thwarted by Artie. Available on an excellent Image (and also a Platinum Disc) DVD.

COMMENT: I don't share the general enthusiasm for this one. True, on a credit side is Harlan's enthrallingly picturesque location photography. But debit weak action, an uninteresting plot with appalling dialogue, and some truly abysmal acting. Even the villains are unattractive.

OTHER VIEWS: This is just about the best Hopalong Cassidy film - and Cassidy is tops in his field today - that we have encountered in long months of double-billing at the Central. - Thomas Pryor in The New York Times. P.S. Despite Pryor's endorsement, Heart of Arizona was the final William Boyd movie noticed by The New York Times.

Excellent acting and production values raise this above routine

[morrisonhimself · 9/10 · 20 March 2020]

If the chief female had not been called "Belle Starr," which was the name of a real person in the annals of the West, this would have been more in line with the rest of the Hoppy series. But that's a very minor problem.

Playing La Starr is an obvious stage actress, Natalie Moorhead. Because she's an obvious city slicker, she should not have been cast as a long-time Westerner; but her character could more easily have been a fairly recent immigrant. Still, only a very minor problem. Suspend your disbelief.

And enjoy William Boyd as Hopalong Cassidy. Boyd was undoubtedly one of the very finest actors to play the lead in a Western series. There is a subtlety in his every move and gesture, in his facial expressions, that show that, if it hadn't been for that ugly "news" paper error early in his career (when another William Boyd was arrested and our guy's picture ran), he might have been a huge mainstream star. He certainly deserved it. He certainly had the talent.

Russell Hayden gave a magnificent performance, surely one of his best. He was a good-looking guy and was a wonderful cowboy. His acting was uneven later, and he often sounded as if he had bad-fitting dentures, but here he was just perfect, a real pleasure to watch.

Dorothy Short gave another of her excellent performances, and George Hayes played his "Windy" character also to perfection. He too, by the way, was actually a city slicker -- well, sort of. In his bio at IMDb is this comment: "In real life he was the exact opposite of the characters he played on film. He was well read, well-groomed, serious and highly philosophical."

He reportedly did not even learn to ride a horse until he was 50, but few actors are more identified with Westerns than Hayes, and probably even fewer are and were more beloved. Any movie is better for his presence.

The other players were talented and the script-writer gave many of them a chance to shine -- which they do.

Paramount produced dusty and gritty Westerns, often showing the dusty and gritty ranch life, and often doing so better than other studios. Perhaps especially in the Hopalong series.

I highly recommend "Heart of Arizona," and you can find a very good copy at YouTube.

Tremendous trio of Hoppy, Gabby and Hayden

[hines-2000 · 10/10 · 19 February 2022]

In a twist for the straight and narrow Hopalong Cassidy, the movie starts when he comes to the aid of Belle Starr (Natalie Moorhead) who has returned to her ranch after serving time in jail. Then again, he doesn't tolerate crooked lawmen either. Gabby's wit and wisdom starts when he's snookered by the Stagecoach driver (Robert McKenzie), "Wizzled by a no-count ornery mule skinner." Hoppy's ace right hand man Lucky (Russell Hayden) plays a great balancing act having to prove himself to Buck Peters (John Elliott), owner of the Bar 20 Ranch and fighting for the affections of Belle's daughter Jacqueline (Dorothy Short). Unbeknownst to Belle, her foreman Ringo (Stephen Chase) is a cattle rustler as the plot thickens. Billy King plays Artie, nephew of Buck Peters (John Elliott). Billy and his horse Tony had become well-known in horse shows and Hoppy was happy to have them on contract in four of his films.

decent Hopalong Cassidy western

[alv790 · 12 December 2020]

Seeing that there were few A-westerns in the 30s until the explosion of 1939, I have watched a few B-westerns of that time to see what they were like. This one I chose as representative of the Hopalong Cassidy film series. There were 66 of these films. Just in 1938, seven of them were filmed. When B-westerns phased out in the late 40s, the star William Boyd bought the rights and the films were again successful on TV, spawning a TV show. Hoppy was sure a household name at that time in the US.

So what's the film like? Well, while still clearly being a B-western, it has better production values than most, with gorgeous scenery. This one is 68 minutes long, slightly longer than the typical B-western.

The story is straightforward and filled with action, as expected of these films. There's a lot of shooting. Almost every character got shot at some point. It does get a bit convoluted at the end, but not much. Hoppy is not on screen all the time, but relies on his supporting cast to drive the story forward, unlike other B-western stars of the time.

Not great drama, but a sure way to keep the kids happy at the theater with some cowboy action, while they waited for the main part of the double feature.