Arizona Frontier on AllMovie

After several dismal Westerns, Tex Ritter found a winner in Arizona Frontier, which was filmed in glorious locations near Prescott, Arizona. Ritter played Tex Whitedeer, a white boy reared by the Indian Grey Cloud (real-life native American sports legend Jim Thorpe). Tex's ancestry becomes an issue when as an agent for the government he is charged with deciding where the East and West branches of the railroad shall meet. Joe Lane's (Hal Price) freight company is being raided by what appears to be Indians, but Tex suspects the criminals to be white men in disguise. He is soon falsely accused by a rival army lieutenant (John Merton) of leading the marauders himself. Further investigation, however, discloses that the raiders are indeed a gang of white villains headed by Graham (Tristram Coffin), who is ultimately caught by Ritter and Grey Cloud's Indian braves. Despite his fame as an athlete, Jim Thorpe was sadly misused by Hollywood who usually saw him only in stereotypical terms. Thorpe's personal friendship with Ritter landed him the role of Grey Cloud in Arizona Frontier and he gave what was perhaps his best performance.