Pluskylang Great Film overall

Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!

AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Kaelan Mccaffrey Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

mark.waltz You must never take what is not yours, devious Vincent Price tells Hus young ward when she brings a book from his library on fraud for him to read to her, making her believe as a young girl that she is the heir to the American territory known as Arizona. While she grows up, he perfects his plan by living among an order of monks who guard priceless local artifacts. Great detail goes into his forgery to prove the claim, gaining their trust until he gets what he needs. Meeting his former ward years later, he charms her into marriage, leading to the take-over and one of the greatest robbery the wild west would ever know.This is one of Vincent Price's greatest non-horror performances, and next to "Dragonwyck" one of his best non-horror villains. Sitting in front of a giant map of Arizona, he has a profile equal to Orson Welles in "Citizen Kane", and as Price continues to gain power, he really becomes Citizen Arizona. Ellen Drew is simply just window dressing as the grown-up version of the naive ward. Excellent production values go into this Q budget drama from the independent Lippert which mainly made cheap crime dramas and westerns. Beaulah Bondi has a tiny role as the nanny Price hires to raise his ward, while Antonio Rosito (" Freaks") has a nice role as the dwarf in the gypsy tribe Price briefly hides out with. He's a villain with a conscience, and after a plea from Drew in an impressive dramatic plea, he finds himself reforming, but at what cost? A gripping climax has Price facing a hangman's rope, and the sweat falling off of Price's brow might have you clutching your seat or sweating a bit as well.

LeonLouisRicci After His Debut Directorial Movie, I Shot Jesse James (1949) and Before one of His most Admired, The Steel Helmet (1951), Sam Fuller made this Awkward, Stuffy, but Enticing "Western" about a Real Life Story that is a Truth Stranger than Fiction.A Forger/Con Artist/Swindler/Thief and all around Bad Dude decides to Spend a Lifetime Concocting a Scheme that will show that His Wife, by way of Land Grant is the Sole Owner of the State of Arizona. Bizarre, to say the Least, this was going to be a Monumental Effort to Pull Off with a Shooting Schedule of 15 Days and an Ultra-Low Budget.But, on board is Writer/Director Sam Fuller, Leading Man Vincent Price (brilliantly cast), and Cinematographer James Wong Howe. The Finished Film is Extraordinary Considering, but the Impact of Viewing it can be Tedious and Demanding.Not quite sure what it is, but the Movie is Heavy Going and those Looking to Find the Fuller Touch may be Disappointed, although there are Flourishes. It is a bit Long and those Usually Fond of this type of Historical Melodrama with a bit of an Edge might Enjoy it as a bit Quirky and at the Same Time, a Generally Rewarding Experience. This is one of those that is not going to be for Everyone. Its Appeal is Limited.

Richie-67-485852 The idea that someone can come along and make a claim to major land holdings today is far fetched. But, If you go back 100 years or so, when systems in place literally accept any claim filed within reason, it then becomes a fascinating story to be told. Add Vincent Price a very fine actor who is able to hold your attention with ease and you have a good movie on your hands. I like true stories and many a story got its start in some truth. One thing that kept gnawing on me was that if this guy James Rivas who the story is based on didn't get so greedy, he could have done quite well for himself. All he had to do is quit while he was ahead. Then, make a gesture to grant the remaining parcels to the government and forever take a different part in the history of Arizona. I bet it got addicting to see with ease how the plan took root and was honored especially when the big monies started coming in and important people validated the claims with their support. But then, we would have had a different movie too. As the story enfolds and you get pulled in, right around the middle of it you are so glad that it is not over because it is so entertaining. You just have to wonder where it was all going and how it will turn out. Its a snack-able movie with a good drink. Get comfortable and enjoy this one..I have seen it 3 times and it holds well...

OldAle1 Only slightly less impressive than Fuller's debut is this, his second film, with an excellent and slightly restrained Vincent Price as the eponymous title character, another true-life minor figure in the history of the Old West: James Addison Reavis, who in the 1880s concocted a grand schemed to defraud the United States of a large chunk of the then-territory of Arizona through forged documents showing a Spanish land grant handed down for a century and a half to the woman he was to make his bride. Price's conviction and Fuller's straightforward direction somehow make this preposterous tale ring true (many of the basics are correct, though Fuller certainly over-dramatizes the later confrontations between Reavis and the government with its allies the homesteaders that the Baron is trying to steal from). Like I Shot Jesse James this is ultimately a tale of redemption, as the Baron, like Bob Ford, comes to understand that it is not riches and titles that make him attractive to his "Baroness" Sofia (Ellen Drew) but his character. Unlike Bob Ford, he is a man capable of learning and profiting from past mistakes.The narration, from a clubby smoking-room, seems superfluous but fits in with Fuller's "this happened, and you are there" aims. The film does drag a bit in the last third or so, and the great character actress Beulah Bondi is essentially wasted in a small role as Sofia's tutor, but Price carries the film, and the last shot, reminiscent to me of the last moments of 'The Lives of Others' carries a powerful emotional punch. Watched on the fine Eclipse DVD.