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The Baron of Arizona (1950)

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Average Rating: 6.4/10
Reviews Counted: 7
Fresh: 6 | Rotten: 1

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Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 1
Fresh: 1 | Rotten: 0

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Average Rating: 3.6/5
User Ratings: 418

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Movie Info

Samuel Fuller wrote and directed this lively drama based on the real-life adventures of James Addison Reavis, one of the most ambitious swindlers of the 19th Century. In 1871, Reavis (played by Vincent Price) began hatching an elaborate scheme to claim the Arizona territory (then three decades away from statehood) as his own. At the time, land grants established during Spanish rule of Arizona were still valid, and one rainy evening Reavis visited Pepito Peralta (Vladimir Sokoloff) and his

Unrated, 1 hr. 39 min.

Western, Drama, Classics

Directed By: Samuel Fuller

In Theaters: Mar 4, 1950 Wide

On DVD: Aug 21, 2007

Cast

Vincent Price
James Addison Reavis
Ellen Drew
Sofia Peralta-Reavis
Beulah Bondi
Lona Morales
Vladimir Sokoloff
Pepito
Reed Hadley
Grill
Robert H. Barrat
Judge Adams
Robin Short
Lansing
Tina Rome
Rita
Margia Dean
Marquesa
Edward Keane
Surveyor Miller
Gene Roth
Father Guardian
Karen Kester
Sofia as a child
Fred Kohler Jr.
Damming
Tristram Coffin
McCleary
I. Stanford Jolley
Secretary of Interior
Terry Frost
Morelle
Zachary Yaconelli
Greco
Wheaton Chambers
Brother Gregory
Robert Vincent O'Neil
Brother Paul
Stephen S. Harrison
Surveyor's Assistant
Angelo Rossitto
Angie
Margo Woode
Carry Lansing
Joseph Green
Gunther

Critic Reviews for The Baron of Arizona

All Critics (7) | Top Critics (1) | Fresh (6) | Rotten (1) | DVD (2)

Not one of Fuller's best films, though the subject is fascinatingly offbeat, the cinematography is by James Wong Howe, and no personal Fuller project is devoid of interest.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader

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Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

Top Critic

A Balzacian comedy recalled by a man who, like Fuller, can't help admiring a rogue who can wield ingenuity in a wolfish world

May 15, 2011 Full Review Source: CinePassion

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Fernando F. Croce

CinePassion

This is a powerful and colorful film, the second to be directed by the gifted Fuller, which shows a large slice of pioneer life in early America.

January 12, 2010 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide

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TV Guide's Movie Guide

The craziest true story I've never heard of that turned out to be pretty damn true. Even with Fuller shouting his own melodramatic version of the truth at the top of his lungs

August 29, 2009 Full Review Source: Kinetofilm

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Brian Holcomb

Kinetofilm

Starring Vincent Price, Sam Fuller's second feature is a bizarre noirish Western, marred by preposterous plotting, but extremely well shot by ace lesner James Wong Howe.

July 5, 2009 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

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Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

The Baron of Arizona (1950) is all thumbs, as much a forgery as the one perpetrated by its protagonist James Addison Reavis (Vincent Price).

August 17, 2007 Full Review Source: House Next Door

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Keith Uhlich

House Next Door

Tells a fabulous story loosely based on true events that are inefficiently worked out thereby making it seem unlikely.

March 28, 2005 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews

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Dennis Schwartz

Ozus' World Movie Reviews

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Audience Reviews for The Baron of Arizona

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Interesting because it's based on a true story. Sam Fuller delivers one his calmest pictures.

December 30, 2007

Ken Stachnik

Super Reviewer

It's a pretty far fetched story, but it is said to be based on a real story, which is really incredible. This movie is dramatic, romantic, exciting, and humorous. I loved Price in this movie.

September 5, 2010