"The lustiest adventure a man ever lived!"
The U.S. government recognizes land grants made when the West was under Spanish rule. This inspires James Reavis to forge a chain of historical evidence that makes a foundling girl the Baroness of Arizona. Reavis marries the girl and presses his claim to the entire Arizona territory.
Vincent Price
James Addison Reavis
Ellen Drew
Sofia de Peralta-Reavis
Vladimir Sokoloff
Pepito Alvarez
Beulah Bondi
Loma Morales
Reed Hadley
John Griff
Robert Barrat
Judge Adams
Robin Short
Tom Lansing
Karen Kester
Sofia as a child
Margia Dean
Marquesa de Santella
The U.S. government recognizes land grants made when the West was under Spanish rule. This inspires James Reavis to forge a chain of historical evidence that makes a foundling girl the Baroness of Arizona. Reavis marries the girl and presses his claim to the entire Arizona territory.
Yikes! Talk about playing the long game...! Vincent Price is at his manipulative best as the scheming "Reavis" who concocts a cunning plan to end up owning the entire Arizona territory. As it acceded into the United States, the government agreed to honour land grants given in years gone by by the kings of Spain. "Reavis" turns up one rainy night at the dilapidated home of "Pepito" (Vladimir Sokoloff) and claims that his adopted daughter "Sofia" (Ellen Drew) is the last in the line of the "De Peralta" family who were granted the land by King Ferdinand VI. He proceeds to bring her up as a baroness. He imbues in her all the characteristics of a landed lady whilst cleverly forging the necessary documentation - even spending years in a Spanish monastery - before laying their claim. How can the government and the local population legally challenge this state of affairs? The last ten minutes rather let it down - a touch too much romantic melodrama, but for the most part this is a well constructed exercise in deviousness and plotting that Price holds together well. It's perhaps a little bit long, but is quite an interesting story of an aspect of the formation of the USA that's quite intriguingly, almost menacingly, built up.
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