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'Neath Arizona Skies (1934)
Directed by Harry L. Fraser
Written by Burl R. Tuttle
Stars: John Wayne, Sheila Terry, George Hayes (later to be known as George 'Gabby' Hayes), Shirley Ricketts, Jack Rockwell, Yakima Canutt
Genre: Western / Oater / Early Wayne / Galloping Horses
Content: Harmless fun

'Neath Arizona Skies
John Wayne learns his trade and pays his dues in an action-packed oater

Here is an early John Wayne vehicle made in 1934, back when Wayne was just a rail-thin cowpoke from central casting, and the good guys were good guys, the bad guys were bad, and all the horses traveled at only two speeds: dead stop and full gallop, the thunder of hoofbeats: keddalum-keddalum-keddalum-keddalum!

Wayne plays the guardian of a young Indian girl. Bad Guys want to get their hands on her for her share of some oil money earned in payments to her tribe. Wayne is equally determined that the Bad Guys not get the money. When they try to kidnap the girl, Wayne fights them then flees on his horse with the girl; keddalum-keddalum!

The Bad Guys follow; keddalum-keddalum.

Keddalum-keddalum; Wayne stays well ahead.

The Bad Guys lose the trail: keddalum-lum, dead stop. “Which way did they go?” “That way!” “Let’s go! Okay!" Keddalum-keddalum-keddalum-keddalum.

Wayne dismounts and sends the girl on ahead — keddalum — while he stays behind to set a trap for the Bad Guys who are riding up fast: keddalum-keddalum-keddalum-keddalum, they ride right into the trap, but not for long! Wayne fights hard, but there are too many of them; he takes one of their horses and barely gets away! keddalum-keddalum-keddalum-keddalum!!!

And you get the picture. The film is only an hour long, but it is lean, mean storytelling that manages to pack in more plot and subplots than some movies that are twice as long. We haven't even touched on the search for the girl's father, or another side-plot in which Wayne gets mixed up in a case of mistaken identity with another Bad Guy.

I found the film’s spirit of innocence refreshing. The Good Guy is good because it is the right thing to do, and there is a surprising amount of suspense generated by the fear that the hero’s incorruptible sense of fair play might be the only thing that will prove his undoing.

Fortunately, even the Bad Guys back then might occasionally run up against some moral boundary or two: “Now wait a minute, Joe. Nobody said nothin’ about no killin’ when I signed on!”

Ah, those were the days! Those thrilling days of yesteryear, where heroes were role models, and any kid with a dime could get in for an afternoon of excitement and adventure — a time that we've long since more than outrun; keddalum-keddalum-keddalum-keddalum.