'Neath the Arizona Skies

Neath the Arizona Skies is a 1934 Western film directed by Harry L. Fraser, produced by Lone Star Productions, released by Monogram Pictures and starring John Wayne. Wayne's character attempts to locate a little girl's father, so that she may claim a $50,000 Indian oil claim. The film co-stars Sheila Terry and Shirley Jean Rickert. George "Gabby" Hayes played a featured character with a speaking role, but his name was omitted from the cast list in the opening credits. Plot summary Chris Morrell (Wayne) is the surrogate father of Nina, a young Indian girl who is a U.S. government ward because her father left her mother before birth and her mother died in childbirth. An oil strike makes Nina's mother's Indian oil land lease worth $50,000, which Morrell will get to take care of Nina if he can find her father and have him sign guardianship papers (or prove the father is dead). Minions of Sam Black (Canutt), the local outlaw ringleader, hear about the oil land claim and Black determines to collect it. The gang comes to take Nina from Morrell, but Morrell escapes with her. He sends her off on horseback to his friend Bud Moore's ranch while he deals with the outlaws, eventually stampeding their horses away. He makes his getaway but collapses in exhaustion near a brook. Nina arrives at the ranch only to discover Bud Moore died the year before. Nina gets taken care of by Matt Downing (Hayes), a good-natured cook, in contrast to the obviously evil Vic Byrd, the new ranch owner who insists that she stay to do work. Vic goes to town and robs $6,000 from a local businessman with the help of Bud Moore's brother, Jim. During his escape, Jim happens upon Morrell collapsed from exhaustion, and swaps clothes with him to deflect suspicion. Also riding home from town, Moore's sister Clara (Terry) discovers the passed out Morrell in the clothes she had heard the local businessman describe as being worn by the robber. She revives him though she is suspicious of him and ties him up beforehand. When she learns he is Bud's friend, she frees him and takes him to her homestead, where he runs into Jim and recognizes him as the man that took his clothes, and therefore is the robber. They have words but Morrell does not tell Clara about Jim.