Valley of the Sun (1942) User Reviews

Another terrific George Marshall witty western

[16mmRay · 7/10 · 29 March 2005]

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.

Lucille Ball In A Western?

[michael-248 · 6/10 · 5 November 1999]

This entertaining western is an interesting mix of comedy and adventure, complete with cowboys, indians and couple of black hats. Be sure and watch for the very funny wedding scene involving a bunch of ants. Starring Lucy in her only western movie role, and co-starring John Craig, Cedric Hardwicke and Dean Jagger.

Worth a peek

Lucy Burns The Old RKO West

[DKosty123 · 7/10 · 11 January 2018]

RKO obviously made this 78 minute film as the extra attraction for double features. This Western is better made than a lot of RKO's second B pictures.

James Craig and Lucy have some spark as a couple. The plot makes sense. There is even some humor. The script writers do pretty well.

There are some action moments between the humor and the romance. This is worth watching just because it is Lucy doing something different. This is still quite a few years before Lucy and Desi would buy the RKO studios in the 1950's and make it into a television juggernaut.

Lucy gets to stretch her comic acting here, long before her blossuming into a full fledged comedian. There are some silent folks like Billy Gilbert who appear in this one. This is 3 years prior to Lucy and Buster Keaton giving her comedy lessons at MGM in 1945. Still, you see the basis of her talent in this one.

Wit, Sass and Lucille Ball in this wild western flick!

[cgvsluis · 7/10 · 8 December 2022]

This film was a surprise to me with it's surprisingly sassy and witty dialogue bantered about in what is essentially a western.

Army Scout turned fugitive Jonathan Ware runs into Jim Sawyer on a stage coach and they get off on a bad foot. Then while trying to take a bath he happens to run into Jim Sawyer's cook turned fiancé Christine Larson. This begins a humorous romp trying to foil Jim Sawyer and Christine's wedding which ends up with the three of them plus the minister being caught and held hostage by a tribe of native Americans. Jim Sawyer is apparently the Native Agent and he has been stealing from them for which they want retribution via his death. Against his better judgment m, Johnathan Ware, vouches for Jim and guarantees not only the return of their property but more. Later Jim double crosses both the Natives and Jonathan...eventually allowing Christine to see him for who he truly is and to see Jonathan in a better light. The film eventually comes full circle in another stage coach.

There are some great brawls and some really good Native American hoop dancing...but the best part of this film is the hate to love romance between Lucille Ball and James Craig. (For once she plays it completely straight!)

This was more fun that I expected and was quite enjoyable for a western. Not high on my must see list...more of a sleeper that maybe you should check out.

Lucille Ball In A Different Kind Of Role

[sddavis63 · 3/10 · 30 April 2008]

Not being a particular fan of westerns, I watched this primarily because I wanted to see Lucille Ball in something other than an "I Love Lucy" or "Lucy Show" type of role. Here she plays Christine Larson, owner of a saloon in the Arizona Territory in 1868 who's about to be married to the unscrupulous local Indian agent (Dean Jagger.) Ball's performance was OK - nothing really more than that; she didn't blow me away. It succeeded for me in that the role was very different from what I'm accustomed to seeing her in - there was very little of the outrageous physical comedy she later became famous for, although the movie tried to maintain a gently amusing feel throughout. (A typical funny line - "there's two ways to deal with women - and no one knows either one of them!") I didn't find the story all that compelling, although I appreciated that the Indians were shown as the victims of the Indian agent. There's typical shootout action and a lot of horses - your typical western in other words. As to Christine - we pretty much can guess from the beginning how her planned marriage is going to end up; it's just a question of how she's going to get there. If you like westerns, this would be a pretty typical one with a bit of humour thrown in. If you're not big on the genre, this will be lacking. I'm not big on the genre. 3/10

More peculiar than entertaining...

[moonspinner55 · 5/10 · 19 July 2008]

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 ****

Offbeat comedic Western--Good fun! And Lucy's a frontier treat!

[sdiner82 · 10/10 · 11 March 2002]

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.

**

[edwagreen · 4/10 · 9 December 2017]

Am still wondering why this 1942 film got the name that it did. It was idiotic to say the least and diminishes the brutal way the Indians were treated in the 1880s and before.

With Lucille Ball in it, you would know that the film would turn to comedy which was probably the best part of this inane film.

Part of the picture is the attempts by James Craig, who tried to help 3 Indians accused of stealing what was really theirs and winds up with a prison sentence, along with Cedric Hardwicke to break up the impending marriage between the Ball character and Dean Jagger. Some of the antics used to do this were funny especially throwing those itchy aunts down on Jagger at the wedding scene.

It doesn't take Ball long to realize that she is making a mistake and that her true love has become the Craig character.

This is one hour and nineteen minutes of sheer nonsense.

Justice for the Indians and marry Lucille Ball

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 8 February 2012]

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.