{"id":37994,"date":"2016-10-20T08:46:02","date_gmt":"2016-10-20T15:46:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=37994"},"modified":"2021-02-03T22:59:19","modified_gmt":"2021-02-04T05:59:19","slug":"baron-of-arizona-the-1950","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=37994","title":{"rendered":"Baron of Arizona, The (1950)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Gentlemen, it has the stench of swindle.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Baron-of-Arizona-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Baron-of-Arizona-Poster-196x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"196\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-38000\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Baron-of-Arizona-Poster-196x300.jpg 196w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Baron-of-Arizona-Poster-84x128.jpg 84w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Baron-of-Arizona-Poster-768x1174.jpg 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Baron-of-Arizona-Poster-670x1024.jpg 670w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Baron-of-Arizona-Poster.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 196px) 100vw, 196px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nIn late-1800s America, a talented con-artist named <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/James_Reavis\">James Reavis<\/a> (Vincent Price) plots an elaborate scheme to establish young Sofia (Karen Kester) &#8212; a peasant girl cared for by her adopted father (Vladimir Sokoloff) &#8212; as a Spanish baroness whose ancestors held a claim on Arizona territory. Reavis becomes a monk and then a gypsy in Spain in order to forge original land-grant documents, then returns and marries Sofia (now Ellen Drew) &#8212; but his claim to be Baron of Arizona infuriates all citizens, and sparks an investigation by a known forging expert (Reed Hadley).\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Beulah Bondi Films<\/li>\n<li>Con-Artists<\/li>\n<li>Historical Drama<\/li>\n<li>Mistaken or Hidden Identities<\/li>\n<li>Sam Fuller Films<\/li>\n<li>Vincent Price Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary\u2019s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nAs Peary writes, Sam Fuller&#8217;s second directorial feature &#8212; made after <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=40111\"><em>I Shot Jesse James<\/em> (1949)<\/a> and just before <em>The Steel Helmet<\/em> (1951) &#8212; is a &#8220;weird film even for [Fuller].&#8221; Peary argues that the &#8220;film is too claustrophobic and slow-moving, but keeps attention because [its] premise is so unusual&#8221;, and points out that &#8220;despite being set in gorgeous Arizona, [the] low budget of the film required that scenes take place indoors or at night&#8221; (a backdrop of an enormous map of the Arizona Territory serves as a pivotal visual in many scenes). I&#8217;m essentially in agreement with Peary&#8217;s assessment: despite its limitations, it&#8217;s impossible not to be fascinated by this fantastic tale given its <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/James_Reavis\">historical basis<\/a> and the inspired casting of Vincent Price in the lead, who inevitably heightens the surreality and melodrama of the proceedings. There&#8217;s some truly ripe dialogue:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll want you until the day I die. It is not death, it is dying that alarms me. It is not your crime, it is your weakness that alarms me.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&#8230; which somehow doesn&#8217;t feel entirely out of place. James Wong Howe&#8217;s cinematography adds to the atmosphere of this hard-to-classify low-budget western crime-caper love-story.   <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A compelling and unusual storyline<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/BOA-Still2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/BOA-Still2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"542\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-38005\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/BOA-Still2.png 720w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/BOA-Still2-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/BOA-Still2-300x226.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/BOA-Still.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/BOA-Still.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"542\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-38004\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/BOA-Still.png 720w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/BOA-Still-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/BOA-Still-300x226.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/BOA-Still3.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/BOA-Still3.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"542\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-38006\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/BOA-Still3.png 720w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/BOA-Still3-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/BOA-Still3-300x226.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>James Wong Howe&#8217;s cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/BOA-Howe1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/BOA-Howe1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"542\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-38001\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/BOA-Howe1.png 720w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/BOA-Howe1-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/BOA-Howe1-300x226.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/BOA-Howe3.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/BOA-Howe3.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"542\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-38003\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/BOA-Howe3.png 720w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/BOA-Howe3-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/BOA-Howe3-300x226.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, once, as a novel story by a unique director. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Important Director<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0042229\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/68142\/the-baron-of-arizona#articles-reviews?articleId=240870\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.chicagoreader.com\/chicago\/the-baron-of-arizona\/Film?oid=1070754\">Chicago Reader Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thespinningimage.co.uk\/cultfilms\/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=4466&#038;aff=13\">Spinning Image Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s2388full.html\">DVD Savant (scroll down)<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Gentlemen, it has the stench of swindle.&#8221; Synopsis: In late-1800s America, a talented con-artist named James Reavis (Vincent Price) plots an elaborate scheme to establish young Sofia (Karen Kester) &#8212; a peasant girl cared for by her adopted father (Vladimir Sokoloff) &#8212; as a Spanish baroness whose ancestors held a claim on Arizona territory. Reavis becomes a monk and then a gypsy in Spain in order to forge original land-grant documents, then returns and marries Sofia (now Ellen Drew) &#8212;&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=37994\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=37994"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37994\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68495,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37994\/revisions\/68495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=37994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=37994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=37994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}