Valley of the Sun

Valley Of The Sun is an offbeat comic western that stars Lucille Ball in a role you would normally see Dale Evans do over at Republic with Roy Rogers. But Lucy and the rest of the cast acquit themselves well under the handling of director George Marshall.

Lucy runs the Busy Bee Cafe in Yuma where she's all set to marry Indian agent Dean Jagger who makes a nice living cheating the Indians. That was a great racket in the old west and who's to complain as they don't have the right to vote as yet. Army scout James Craig cares however, but he's had to bust jail after helping a couple of falsely accused Apaches escape.

In making his escape Craig runs into both Lucy and Jagger and then has a dual mission to stop that wedding and get some justice for the Indians. Do you doubt he will succeed?

This western moves at a really nice clip with the comedy some of the rough house kind like Jagger having a stagecoach run over some cactus to dislodge Craig who is riding by hanging on to the boot. Nevermind though Craig pays him back good in stopping that wedding and I won't reveal how.

George Marshall was one of the great comic directors from the last century and never gets the due that he should. This minor picture for RKO shows him at his best.

I remember back in the day in New York City when I was a kid, Valley Of The Sun was run frequently on WOR TV as they owned the entire RKO Library. It seems to have fallen out of favor in the past several years though for reasons I can't explain. This is a really fine film.

Curious head-scratcher of a western directed by George Marshall features James Craig as a drifter in 1868 Tucson who disrupts the wedding of feisty barmaid Lucille Ball, later stopping a war between the white man and an Apache Indian tribe! Lucy-completists will want to take a look, but this may be one example of why her movie-career never caught fire. The picture is just a second-string quickie, despite writers Clarence Budington Kelland and Horace McCoy tossing in some comedic overtones (which help). Unfortunately, it just doesn't add up to much. I'd trade all those tumbleweeds for a cameo by William Frawley. ** from ****

James craig, lucy, tom tyler. Tucson is still a territory, with a wide mix of settlers, and the first americans. It's chris' wedding day, and the whole town is buzzing. The army is already squabbling with a scout and the crooked agent. The scout is on the run, after getting court martialed for standing up for the indians. And of course, chris' husband-to-be is caught up in the shenanigans. A typical western, with some extra humor thrown in here and there. Some silliness over using red ants to delay a wedding. Billy gilbert, who made a career out of sneezing his way through movies. Even cochise and geronimo are here. This was still the awkward part of lucy's career where they weren't really sure what to do with her. She made some good comedies in the 1940s, and of course, had her own series with ricky in the 1950s. Very pretty scenery of the southwest. Its actually not bad. A bit silly, but mostly good. We can see the beginnings of lucy and her comedy bits. Directed by george marshall. Based on the stories of clarence kelland.

Once again George Marshall, who directed DESTRY RIDES AGAIN, brings wit and sass to the old west. James Craig, who was a hit in the previous year's ALL THAT MONEY CAN BUY for RKO, does a fine job as the amiable hero. Lucille Ball displays a large amount of her comic abilities, both physical and character with some wonderful double takes. Even Dean Jagger, usually a very dour character indeed, has fun in VALLEY OF THE SUN. The story is slight, friend of the Indians tries to prevent the wedding of a girl he's met with the man who turns out to be the crooked Indian agent. More important than the actual plot are the progressive set pieces that evoke laughs and thrills. Billy Gilbert is a riot as the stuttering, sneezing (only one) judge; Cedric Hardwicke is an enigmatic immigrant; Antonio Moreno wears a false beak as the Indian chief; and western star Tom Tyler appears as Geronimo in a terrific scene where he challenges Craig. Seeing this movie puts the lie to all that hogwash that's been printed about Tyler having to play crippled Kharis in THE MUMMY'S HAND two years earlier because he himself was crippled with arthritis. Excellent musical score by Paul Sawtell is the icing on the cake.

I highly recommend this spirited horse opera.

This thoroughly enjoyable RKO comedic Western from 1942 used to be shown regularly on TV in the '50s and '60s, but seems to have faded into obscurity and deserves a TCM revival. A swift 79-minute running time packs in plenty of action, rambunctious humor, and sparkling romantic chemistry between leads James Craig (why he didn't become a major star remains a mystery) and luscious Lucille Ball (exuding the volcanic combo of dazzling beauty and an innate flair for slapstick that would come to full fruition a decade later in "I Love Lucy" on the home-screen). Dismissed by most critics as a forgettable low-grade oater, "Valley of the Sun" was a high-budget class-A RKO production, and shows in the caliber of the witty screenplay, eye-catching production design, and shimmering black-and-white photography. Excellent entertainment, and still a thorough delight from start to finish.