Arizona

Director Wesley Ruggles, who had won his western spurs and a best picture Oscar with the early talkie epic Cimarron (1931), was responsible for this account of pioneering life in Tucson. The focus is firmly on Jean Arthur as the first lady settler there, battling it out with the rogues trying to control her rail freight business. Femininity asserts itself when she falls in love with William Holden (in his first western), passing through on his travels. Distinguished by Arthur's performance and outstanding photography and action set pieces which reflect the film's then massive production budget, it contains all the ingredients that became standard to the frontier western.