A top-notch B-Western, Hearts of Arizona is perhaps the most melancholy entry in the entire series, with an ending unlike any seen in low-budget Westerns at the time. There is plenty of action and the final denouement is directed for maximum effect by Leslie Selander, but Heart of Arizona's real centerpieces are the interesting relationship between the characters. Hoppy and young Johnny had been at odds over a woman before, but the latter's infatuation with the much-older Belle Starr seems to bespeak of deeper emotions than this young whippersnapper was given credit for in previous entries. Hardly a historically correct depiction of an infamous frontier woman outlaw (and her daughter in this film is wholly fictitious), Belle Starr (1848-1889) is instead portrayed as a devoted wife who merely stood by her husband in time of need. Always an interesting actress, the usually mercenary Moorhead overcomes a slight bit of miscasting -- Eastern Main Line accent and all -- and her tender scenes with William Boyd are some of the series' finest and best written.