User Reviews

...so the actress named Browne and the horse named Reno had to change their names.

When actress Reno Browne (birth name Josephine Ruth Clark [1921-1991])was signed to play opposite Johnny Mack Brown in "Under Arizona Skies' (Monogram, 1946), producer Scott Dunlap decided that Reno Browne needed a name change and, thusly, Reno Browne became Reno Blair, and remained Reno Blair in all six of the films she made with Johnny Mack Brown.

Although his horse was never billed, Johnny Mack Brown rode a horse named "Reno" in most of the Universal westerns he made in 1940-43 and also in the twenty-two westerns he had starred in at Monogram from 1943 to the date in 1946 when production begin on "Under Arizona Skies." Credited or not, in most of these films Brown, at some point, made mention that his horse's name was "Reno". Dunlap also decided that seeing Reno on the credits as the name of the actress, and hearing "Reno" in the film as the name of the horse, might be a bit confusing for some people and, consequently, either the hoss or the actress had to give up the name of Reno. Fair is Fair, plus Reno Browne/Blair was fonder of the name Reno then she had been of Browne, so "Reno" the Horse had his name changed to "Rebel." And "Rebel" remained the name of Johnny Mack Brown's horse through the remaining 42 westerns Brown made for Monogram from mid-1946 through 1952. And the newly-named Reno Blair went back to being Reno Browne after finishing the six films with Johnny Mack Brown.

And, while it should go without saying it but it won't, the horse named "Rebel" ridden by Johnny Mack Brown was not the horse named "Rebel" ridden by Reb Russell in the mid-30's.

Well boys, "the slickest band of rustlers ever heard of in these parts" are plying their trade again. This time, they are headed by the owner of the local saloon, would you believe? Unfortunately, this time, he is portrayed in a thoroughly routine and mechanical manner by Tris Coffin. Nothing startling about that, but what is somewhat odd is that Coffin is partnered by kindly-faced Steve Clark who is usually cast as the heroine's dad. In this movie, that role is assigned to Jack Rockwell, cast in his customary role as the local sheriff, while Ted Adams enjoys his customary role as a crooked deputy. Brown and Hatton also turn in their usual characterizations. Nice to see Kermit Maynard on the right side of the law as one of the ranch hands. He can be spotted in quite a lot of the footage, but he has very little to do. Lambert Hillyer's direction comes across as surprisingly routine. Even the action spots, although complete with a few running inserts at the climax, are pretty undistinguished. The dialogue is studded with clichés, the plot is familiar and little attempt is made to work up any sense of mystery or suspense. In fact, the movie is thoroughly routine in all departments. Some musical interludes by Smith Ballew at a long after-the-climax wedding breakfast sequence fail to rally an audience's interest. The songs are likewise unmemorable and the background music is a rehash of that recorded in previous Brown westerns. Production credits can be classed as no more than adequate. Likewise, production values rate no more than fair.