Alicia
I love this movie so much
Tayyab Torres
Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.
JohnHowardReid
NOTES: Paramount and Zinman agree: This is number 41 of the 66-picture series. Locations in the Cisco Range.Gentlemen, in general, may prefer blondes - but there's one who doesn't. He's Harry "Pop" Sherman, producer of the popular Hopalong Cassidy films of the wild west. "Every time we've used a blonde for the feminine lead in a picture," Sherman said, "we've slam banged right into trouble." For some strange reason, the fans do not like blonde actresses in Western dramas and send in a flood of complaints every time one appears. Equally strange is the fact that they do not object to blonde men. William Boyd, who has been starred in 41 "Hoppy" films, has never elicited a single protest - and he is so blonde that his hair appears almost white on the screen. (Paramount publicity actually got this one right!)COMMENT: Hopalong Cassidy and his sidekicks impersonate dude Eastern detectives in this yarn, which Boyd plays for laughs rather than thrills. In fact, at the height of the climactic fisticuffs, the camera focuses on Clyde, not Boyd. Directed at a leisurely pace by Howard Bretherton. Co-scriptwriter Ellen Corby is the famous character actress.
classicsoncall
This was the first time in about twenty Hopalong Cassidy flicks that I've run across Brad King as one of Hoppy's sidekick pals. He makes up the good guy trio along with Andy Clyde in his usual role of California Carlson, though the Carlson tag isn't used here. There's probably a good reason King didn't appear as frequently as Russell Hayden or Rand Brooks, the guy just didn't have too much personality. Not a good thing if you're going to be the handsome looking cowboy going after the female lead, in this case Wanda McKay as Miss Lucy Brent. He does get to sing with the Jimmy Wakely Trio as part of a consolation prize though. He sounded decent enough.Hoppy fans might groan a bit when this one starts out, as he and his pals arrive on scene dressed as British detectives, called in by rancher friend Jim Brent (Jack Rockwell) to investigate some cattle rustling. Oddly, it's Andy Clyde who fits the part best with his deerstalker cap, meerschaum pipe and magnifying glass a la Sherlock Holmes. Their attempts at a British accent provide first half comedy relief, until the bad guys blow their cover in a customary shootout. With that, the boys shed their English duds and go full blown Western cowboy.The one interesting element brought into play in this picture is something I don't think I've seen before. The cattle rustlers, led by Nat Kervy (Norman Willis), employ a tricked out cabin that hides a tunnel into the outlaw hideout. There's a brief scare when Hoppy and California get captured by the bad guys, but if you've seen enough of these films, you know it won't be for long. The Bar-20 heroes make the save for Jim Brent, and the picture closes on a lighthearted note when California's magnifying glass discovers a huge, armed and dangerous horned lizard. It fit in the palm of Hoppy's hand!
chipe
One of the worst Hoppy films. Hoppy and his sidekicks take leave of their Bar 20 duties to help an old friend whose ranch is suffering rustlers.The supporting cast was uninteresting. I never cared for Brad King as Hoppy's young sidekick. It seems he was hired mainly for his singing; his acting was bland. I like it when the heroes go undercover to solve the crime. Unfortunately here, their acting as inept British detective dudes got tiring and silly fast. Finally the mystery solving was pretty unimaginative: the bad guys try to kill Hoppy and sidekicks, giving themselves away.
wrbtu
Aside from Andy Clyde (as California) & Brad King (as Johnny), none of theusual supporting crew often found in the Hoppy series is here. Perhaps theyread the script & refused to be involved with the film. Hoppy, California, &Johnny pretend to be private detectives. Are those English accents we hear?Can't really tell, because they keep switching back & forth anyway (except for Andy Clyde, who does a better job with the accent). I guess the actors wanted a breather from their regular Hoppy roles; they got to dress outside the usualHoppy gear, which is often a sign of a lesser Hoppy effort, & that statementcouldn't be truer than here. All three use the most atrocious comedic voices, & California wears a deerstalker hat, smokes a curved pipe, & carries amagnifying glass, apparently as part of a Sherlock Holmes spoof. This silliness goes on for far too long (the first 36 minutes of the film, to be exact), & it's too poorly done to be effective as comedy, & it certainly is even less effective as a Hoppy western. There are three songs, two of which Johnny sings in a tenorvoice. This film has very little to recommend it, & I rank it as one of the two worst Hoppy movies, along with "Outlaws of the Desert." The best part of the film is when Hoppy announces "Let's get out of these monkey suits," & things doimprove a bit in the last 20 minutes, but not enough to make it a decent film. It would have been a better film if he had made that announcement 19 minutesearlier. I rate it 4/10.
