Valley of the Sun

1942
Approved
1h 18m

IMDb RATING

5.9/10

460

YOUR RATING

Lucille Ball, James Craig, and Dean Jagger in Valley of the Sun (1942)

In 1868, Army scout Johnny Ware is courtmartialed for helping Indians against their white oppressors, but escapes and finds himself in the hamlet of Desert Center. There, he crosses paths with Christine Larson who is about to marry one of the crooked Indian agents...but not if Johnny can help it. The film lapses frequently into comedy, with an action climax as our hero tries to head off an incipient Indian war.

Play trailer1:44

1 Video

19 Photos

Drama Western

In the Arizona Territory of 1868, a fugitive army scout and a crooked Indian Agent lock horns over the treatment of the cheated Natives and over the affections of a local beauty.In the Arizona Territory of 1868, a fugitive army scout and a crooked Indian Agent lock horns over the treatment of the cheated Natives and over the affections of a local beauty.In the Arizona Territory of 1868, a fugitive army scout and a crooked Indian Agent lock horns over the treatment of the cheated Natives and over the affections of a local beauty.

Director
- George Marshall
Writers
- Horace McCoy
- Clarence Budington Kelland
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

5.9/10

460

YOUR RATING

Director
- George Marshall
Writers
- Horace McCoy
- Clarence Budington Kelland
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

Lord Warrick
(as Sir Cedric Hardwicke)

Dean Jagger

Jim Sawyer

Peter Whitney

Willie

Billy Gilbert

Judge Homer Burnaby

Tom Tyler

Geronimo

Antonio Moreno

Chief Cochise

George Cleveland

Bill Yard

Hank Bell

Hank

Stanley Andrews

Major at Court Martial
(uncredited)

Chris Willow Bird

Indian
(uncredited)

Ed Brady

Soldier at Hitching Rail
(uncredited)

John Cason

Officer at Court Martial
(uncredited)

Chester Clute

Wilbur
(uncredited)

Iron Eyes Cody

Indian
(uncredited)

Frank Coleman

Man on Street
(uncredited)

Chester Conklin

Soldier at Hitching Rail
(uncredited)

Director
- George Marshall
Writers
- Horace McCoy
- Clarence Budington Kelland
All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Made near the end of her seven-year contract with RKO, where she had become known as "Queen of the 'Bs'", in about 15 years Lucille Ball, along with her husband Desi Arnaz would own the studio.

Goofs
Though the self-proclaimed year of the film is 1868, the sidearm of choice of everyone is the 1873 Single Action Army (aka The Peacemaker).

Quotes
Bill Yard: There's only two ways to handle women...and nobody knows what they are.

Crazy credits
Listed also as cast members: "Indians from the pueblos of Taos, Santa Clara, Jemes, San Juan and Tesuque"

Connections
Referenced in Lucy & Desi: Before the Laughter (1991)

Soundtracks
The Battle Cry of Freedom
(uncredited)
Written by George Frederick Root
[In the score after the court-martial]

User reviews9

Review

Featured review

5/10

More peculiar than entertaining...

Curious head-scratcher of a western directed by George Marshall features James Craig as a drifter in 1868 Tucson who disrupts the wedding of feisty barmaid Lucille Ball, later stopping a war between the white man and an Apache Indian tribe! Lucy-completists will want to take a look, but this may be one example of why her movie-career never caught fire. The picture is just a second-string quickie, despite writers Clarence Budington Kelland and Horace McCoy tossing in some comedic overtones (which help). Unfortunately, it just doesn't add up to much. I'd trade all those tumbleweeds for a cameo by William Frawley. ** from ****