"Arizona Whirlwind" is not a terrible film--it's just incredibly ordinary at best. It's one of the so-called 'Trail Blazers' films--made up of three B-list western stars combined (Bob Steele, Hoot Gibson and Ken Maynard). Several other trios were created in the 1930s and 40s--perhaps in an attempt to combat the drawing power of single big acts like Roy Rogers and Gene Autry. Some other trios of the day were The Three Mequiteers (which consisted of MANY different lineups but most often Bob Livingston, Lloyd Corrigan and Max Terhune) as well as the Rough Riders (Tim McCoy, Buck Jones and Raymond Hatton). These are all harmless fun, but unless they got better, the Trail Blazer films weren't as good as the other trio films.
This film begins with a supposed Indian attack. However, they really weren't Indians--just guys in disguise working for the local baddie. So, it's up to these three traveling lawmen to make things right. Hmmm....this all sounds a bit familiar!!
On the plus side, like the other trio films, this one lacked the singing of the Autry and Rogers films. But, it also severely lacked fun, a sense of humor and leads who had charisma. Now I have really enjoyed many of Hoot Gibson's films recently--but "Arizona Whirlwind" isn't even close to these other films in quality. A gentle sense of humor was his trademark in his films of the 1930s--here he just seems a bit old and tired (at 52). The whole thing just came off as very formulaic and totally unremarkable. There are a few other films in the series available from Netflix--I'll give a few more a chance and hopefully they will have more to offer.
Incidentally, Bob Steele was one of the Three o. Heck, practically everybody was a Mesquiteer from that era--including John Wayne, Raymond Hatton, Jimmie Dodd, Tom Tyler, Duncan Ronaldo and Rufe Davis. In total, 12 different folks played one of the Mesquiteers!
