It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Other reviewers on this board have noted the picture's similarity to Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney's 1938 film "Boys Town". I had the thought quite independently myself as the story unfolded, which introduced Gabby Hayes as the 'best friend a homeless boy ever had'. He's the proprietor of the Half a Chance Ranch, taking in troubled youngsters and providing a safe environment in which they can grow up and be productive. Gabby's most famous graduate happens to be Roy Rogers, understatedly described as 'the guy who sings on the radio'. Roy's returning to the ranch to lend his support and winds up solving a bank robbery that involves one of Gabby's troubled kids, the son of the outlaw the local sheriff is after.I have to say, Dale Evans spices things up quite a bit here as a night club singer at the Golden Spur who's the step daughter of outlaw King Blaine (Lyle Talbot) and the unknown sister of Chip Blaine (Tommy Ivo). She's not an actress that immediately comes to mind when considering the term sexy, but she's got all the right stuff here to turn Roy's head. They weren't married yet at the time of this movie, but there's no denying they made an attractive screen couple. Dale also proves to be quite the singer in this story with a few entertaining numbers on her own and in duet with Roy. She really had quite a pleasant singing voice.With all the song and dance, there's not a lot of room for your standard Western action. The finale involves a chase on horseback somewhat obscured in darkness on the print I viewed, but Roy gets the bad guys to be sure with the help of Bob Nolan and the Sons of the Pioneers. With the money recovered from the local bank, tough old bird Dolly Finnucin (Sarah Edwards) softens up just enough to invite Gabby over to dinner to show her appreciation. Considering the potential romantic entanglements for Roy and Gabby, one wonders if either of them could have come out of the picture with even half a chance.

Roy Rogers attempts to to help save Gabby Hayes' ranch for wayward boys from foreclosure, when one of Gabby's wards is targeted by the partners of outlaw Lyle Talbot, the boy's deceased father.This one's a little sappy, even for a Saturday matinée western, though impossible to entirely dislike. Roy, Gabby, Dale Evans, Bob Nolan, and The Sons Of The Pioneers are all still fun to watch, while some of the kid actors give pretty decent performances.There isn't much to recommend in the way of action or gun-play, but there's a few decent songs, including a neat Halloween song and dance number from Roy, Dale, and Gabby.Though not really one of the better films in the genre, Roy Rogers fans will probably be a little bit more forgiving than the average viewer.

I can't agree with a previous reviewer who wrote that the story here is better than most Rogers films of the period; in fact there's almost no story here at all. Most Rogers films are breezy entertainment with not much meat on the bones, but them's sometimes pretty bones, to be sure; meaning that often we get the skeleton of the story without having to look for any depth, but the action, the music, the general sense of good natured fun makes the typical Rogers film an easy way top blow an hour or so without regret.But this film is a mess. One give-away to this is Dale Evans. Her character is introduced to sing a song, disappears, reappears to try to plug a plot hole, and then pretty much disappears until the end. She has little to do but wring her hands and look concerned.The basic plot - an outlaw wants to leave his stolen money to the orphanage/ranch taking care of his son - never amounts to much. There's no strain to finding the loot, a couple bad guys chase around after it, daddy dies and son is redeemed, and along the way a couple songs get sung. But there's never any tension or suspense, and Rogers, who should appear in command of the material, looks lost, like the director skipped out when the filming began or something. Gabby Hayes is his typical self, but since he's trying to play Pat Obrien in "Boy's Town," there's nothing much for him to do, since that sort of thing isn't in keeping with his usual schtick. The Sons of the Pioneers appear briefly, singing a song of course, but for no other reason - usually they also double as Rogers' ranch-hand gang of friends, here they too disappear.All in all, the worst I've seen Rogers in - not unwatchable, but little else you can say for it.

Song of Arizona was made when Roy Rogers career was in full swing. Gabby Whitaker has a ranch for boys in need of a home, and every one of them is wearing his own cowboy outfit complete with chaps. Every boy had to dream of livng on a ranch with Gabby Hayes and Roy Rogers, and here it was on film! The movie centers around a boy named Chip, played by Tommy Cook. Every time he speaks I keep recognizing his voice from his work on the old time radio shows like Blondie. One of the things that set his movies apart from others was the polished look of the musical productions. Dale wears beautiful outfits and her singing is top notch in this one. Her songs are more pop-oriented than western style. The Sons of the Pioneers line-up is a little different in this one, too. Apparently this was filmed before Lloyd Perryman and Pat Brady returned from military service. Instead we have Ken Carson and Shug Fisher. Oddly, Hugh Farr was missing from the Pioneers for this film. Lyle Talbot may have been cast as the main villain, but Dick Curtis is the true bad guy in this one. I really enjoyed this movie.