SunnyHello
Nice effects though.
Lumsdal
Good , But It Is Overrated By Some
Breakinger
A Brilliant Conflict
evanston_dad
"The Baron of Arizona" was Samuel Fuller's second film after the forgettable "I Shot Jesse James" from 1949. While it's no masterpiece and nowhere nearly as good as the films Fuller would make when he really hit his stride as a filmmaker, it shows marked improvement over his first movie.Fuller as a director was never much interested in following genre conventions even when making genre films, which is one of my favorite things about him. That quality begins to emerge in "The Baron of Arizona," in which Fuller is much more interested in the idiosyncrasies of this based-on-actual-events drama than he is in making his audience happy. I agree with another reviewer that he himself seems bored by the love story, and those scenes seem to only exist because Fuller knew his audience expected them to. The movie is at its best when it's following the details of the devious plot masterminded by a deliciously villainous Vincent Price, who seems perfectly at home with the role when he's asked to be a conniver but not so much when called upon to be a tough guy. The film is visually more interesting than Fuller's first, as if he figured out what to do with his camera or was given more money to do it. Indeed, while this isn't a big-budget film by any stretch of the imagination, it does have better production values than "I Shot Jesse James," released by the same studio.Both "Jesse James" and "Baron" are worth your time if you are a Samuel Fuller fan, because they give us a peek at Fuller as an emerging artist. But only "Baron" is worth watching for general film fans. It's not a great movie, but there are things to enjoy.Grade: B
Michael_Elliott
Baron of Arizona, The (1950) ** 1/2 (out of 4)Fact-based drama of James Reavis (Vincent Price), the man who tried to gain control of Arizona and taking the U.S. government to court in order to prove it was his. In reality, Reavis set out on a life-long scheme full of lies and forgery to try and pull it off. As with Fuller's first movie, this second feature has a lot going for it but at the same time there are some major problems that keep it from being a lot better than it actually is. The biggest problem for me was the screenplay, which I felt spent way too much time with the build up and not enough of a pay off. The first fifty-two minutes are so drawn out that I began to lose interest in the film, story and characters. The opening of showing how Reavis set everything into motion is so drawn out that I was becoming quite bored and losing interest in the entire film. To me this entire segment could have been done in a twenty-minute sequence and it would have paid off more in the end. The film really starts to pick up once we're back in Arizona and Reavis tries to fulfill his evil plan. The reaction to the poor land owners, the government and the effect this plan has on Reavis makes for some good drama, which is lacking in the first half of the film. Price gives a wonderful performance and is the main reason to watch the movie. He's so calm and collective in how evil he is at one point you really can't help but wish he'd get away with the crime. The supporting players are fine even though no one really stands out. Fuller's direction is nice throughout and the cinematography is good as well. In the end this is a rather nice look at history but one can't help but wish it was better.
bkoganbing
Because of the fact that the USA after the Mexican War and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and the Gadsden Purchase which netted for the USA the southern half of Arizona, the original Spanish land grants and whoever had title to them, land office clerk James Addison Reavis hatched one bold and audacious scheme that had it been successful would have had him owning more than half of Arizona.What you're seeing on the screen in The Baron Of Arizona is a small encapsulation of an over 20 year effort by Reavis as played by Vincent Price to pull this thing off and to stay ahead of law enforcement who after a while smelled a very large rat. Reed Hadley who narrated the film also played the part of the rat catcher.Only a small part of the plan called for Price to marry the Peralta heir whom he created and is played by Ellen Drew. That in fact occurred very late in the game. It was only during the Nineties that Price's character marries the Drew character and goes to prison and then only for a few years. My guess is that Reavis copped a plea back in the day just to get it over with.Still The Baron Of Arizona is a fine second film by director Samuel Fuller topped with an impressive performance by Vincent Price before he settled into the horror film genre. But the real story, believe it or not, is more fascinating than this film is.
skallisjr
Vincent Price is so well-known for his role in horror films that his appearance in other kinds of film is mostly forgotten. This is one of the films that illustrates he had far more range than he's often credited for.Likewise, Lippert Films is mostly known for a lot of quickie-cheapy kinds of films; this is a quality exception, even much ahead of its time as a crime caper film.I saw the film when it was first released, and although I was rather young at the time, the story stayed with me for decades. I finally located a copy on a VHS taped, and snapped it up. The film still works, and I'm viewing it from a far different perspective.That the story is mostly based on historic fact is interesting, but like many caper films, what really catches the viewer's interest is the setup of the caper, with all the research, painstaking care, and the like that goes into a committing a brilliant crime. James Reavis was an incredible con man, and watching him set up each forgery is extremely interesting. Effectively, for a brief time, he effectively stole the whole state of Arizona.(Major Spoiler) What's really nice about the film is that the change in Reavis' character is believable, showing that even the most cold-blooded plan can be warmed by affection. That's even reflected as he teeters on the brink of being hanged: his "defense" is that if he's killed, the lynchers would be cheated out of their lands; i.e., that killing him will validate his forgeries! A very memorable film, rather obscure, and highly recommended.
