I just picked up a very cool Christmas present for myself - a seven disc, thirty five Western movie collection featuring Hopalong Cassidy. If you're reading this any time close to when I posted this review, you might want to head over to your local Wal-Mart; that's where I got my set. Best part about the whole deal - ten bucks for all those great Hoppy flicks!
This is only the second one I've seen so far, so I don't know if I'll run into this again, but this movie starts out exactly the same as "In Old Colorado" with riders on horses in a series of scenes dashing back and forth. Once the story actually settles in, we see Hoppy and sidekick California Carlson (Andy Clyde) arriving in an unnamed town, having been summoned by a former cowhand of the Bar-20 named Johnny (Jay Kirby). As head of the local Cattlemens Association, Johnny asks Hoppy to investigate cattle rustling in the territory. Town boss Dan Slack (Victor Jory), aware of Hoppy's reputation, figures he'll ingratiate himself with the newcomer and offer him a job as well.
The set up for the Slack/Hoppy scenario is rather curious. Slack has one of his henchmen take a phony pot-shot at him, and when Hoppy comes to his aid, Slack pulls out his pocket watch with a scrap of lead in the shattered glass face. Hoppy notes that the bullet is a plant because it's not even warm, so decides to take up Slack's job offer to get on the inside of his operation. As a precaution, Hoppy wires a marshal in Salt Lake City inquiring about Slack, but it's intercepted by another henchman named Lafe (Hal Taliaferro). Confronting Lafe, Hoppy and California lock him in a stable knowing full well he'll make a getaway as soon as he can. When he does, and this was quite baffling to me, Hoppy and California follow him in broad daylight on horseback to Slack's hideout near the Buckskin Mine. To my thinking, Slack would have had Lafe put away for this indiscretion, but he needn't have bothered - Lafe's horse threw him over a cliff!
When the town sheriff comes out to arrest Hoppy for Lafe's murder, Hoppy simply blows him off and basically tells him to pound sand. At this point I'm really scratching my head, but hey, this is Hoppy's movie. To speed things up a bit, Hoppy and California find the secret entrance to the back of the tapped out Buckskin Mine, and upon further investigation, find a herd of stolen cattle hidden inside the mine. By this time Slack comes on the scene, and is eventually waylaid by crazy old hermit Sam Bucktoe (George Givot) who lives in the mine. In turn, Bucktoe releases the cattle, they stampede, and Buctoe is killed by a cave-in caused by the rumbling cattle.
All of this nonsense made it just way too easy and convenient for Hoppy to solve the mystery of the rustled cattle and earn back the trust of the cattle folks. But if you can overlook the lack of credibility in the story line, you might enjoy catching George Reeves a decade before he put on the tights as Superman. He's town attorney Harrison Brooke who has villain Slack pegged to a tee. And then, don't blink, because Robert Mitchum makes a quick appearance as another Slack henchman, but he flashes by so quickly you'll wonder who he was the rest of the movie after you recognized the familiar face.
This is only the second one I've seen so far, so I don't know if I'll run into this again, but this movie starts out exactly the same as "In Old Colorado" with riders on horses in a series of scenes dashing back and forth. Once the story actually settles in, we see Hoppy and sidekick California Carlson (Andy Clyde) arriving in an unnamed town, having been summoned by a former cowhand of the Bar-20 named Johnny (Jay Kirby). As head of the local Cattlemens Association, Johnny asks Hoppy to investigate cattle rustling in the territory. Town boss Dan Slack (Victor Jory), aware of Hoppy's reputation, figures he'll ingratiate himself with the newcomer and offer him a job as well.
The set up for the Slack/Hoppy scenario is rather curious. Slack has one of his henchmen take a phony pot-shot at him, and when Hoppy comes to his aid, Slack pulls out his pocket watch with a scrap of lead in the shattered glass face. Hoppy notes that the bullet is a plant because it's not even warm, so decides to take up Slack's job offer to get on the inside of his operation. As a precaution, Hoppy wires a marshal in Salt Lake City inquiring about Slack, but it's intercepted by another henchman named Lafe (Hal Taliaferro). Confronting Lafe, Hoppy and California lock him in a stable knowing full well he'll make a getaway as soon as he can. When he does, and this was quite baffling to me, Hoppy and California follow him in broad daylight on horseback to Slack's hideout near the Buckskin Mine. To my thinking, Slack would have had Lafe put away for this indiscretion, but he needn't have bothered - Lafe's horse threw him over a cliff!
When the town sheriff comes out to arrest Hoppy for Lafe's murder, Hoppy simply blows him off and basically tells him to pound sand. At this point I'm really scratching my head, but hey, this is Hoppy's movie. To speed things up a bit, Hoppy and California find the secret entrance to the back of the tapped out Buckskin Mine, and upon further investigation, find a herd of stolen cattle hidden inside the mine. By this time Slack comes on the scene, and is eventually waylaid by crazy old hermit Sam Bucktoe (George Givot) who lives in the mine. In turn, Bucktoe releases the cattle, they stampede, and Buctoe is killed by a cave-in caused by the rumbling cattle.
All of this nonsense made it just way too easy and convenient for Hoppy to solve the mystery of the rustled cattle and earn back the trust of the cattle folks. But if you can overlook the lack of credibility in the story line, you might enjoy catching George Reeves a decade before he put on the tights as Superman. He's town attorney Harrison Brooke who has villain Slack pegged to a tee. And then, don't blink, because Robert Mitchum makes a quick appearance as another Slack henchman, but he flashes by so quickly you'll wonder who he was the rest of the movie after you recognized the familiar face.