The Worst Film Ever

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

False Paradise was released by United Artists, 10 September 1948. George Archainbaud directed.CAST: William Boyd, Andy Clyde, Rand Brooks, Joel Friedkin, Elaine Riley, Kenneth MacDonald, Don Haggerty, Cliff Clark, George Eldredge, Richard Alexander, Zon Murray. 60 minutes. (Available on an excellent Platinum Disc DVD). COMMENT: This entry provides an opportunity for little-known but prolific character actor Joel Friedkin to really wear out his welcome with some repetitious comic turns involving a butterfly net. Otherwise, we are treated to the familiar "B"-western plot where our soft-headed heroes gladly sign an agreement to meet a deadline and then the baddies do their darndest to prevent them. All the familiar ploys are brought into play. But while the script offers nothing new, it does (aside from the Friedkin runaround) make for a fast-moving and action-paced Saturday kids' matinee hour.

Hopalong Cassidy and his sidekicks Lucky and California come to the aid of Professor Joel Friedkin and daughter Elaine Riley who've just bought a seemingly worthless piece of property to settle down and ranch on. But there just might be silver on the property. It will take a lot of money to mine it before a profit can be shown. Still there's a potential Comstock Lode on the place.And land agent Kenneth MacDonald and banker Kenneth MacDonald want that land back real bad and do what they have to to get it back. Of course Hoppy and his sidekicks triumph in the end.Friedkin was playing the nutty professor who left the serious thinking to his daughter while he and California go out chasing butterflies. He was a science professor and I could never quite wrap my head around the concept that Andy Clyde would have any kind of acquaintance with scholar no matter how wacky. Andy's comedy was a bit more forced here than usual.

Hoppy wears his tan rancher's outfit throughout the film, so we know right off that this isn't going to be a great Hoppy movie. But it is very good, especially for a late entry in the series (this is one of the very last Hoppy films). Trivia section: Elaine Riley is prettier & a better actress than most of the young heroines in the Hoppy series (who were always present to give Lucky or Johnny or whatever young sidekick a mild love interest); she appeared in 5 Hoppy movies, from 1946-48; I was surprised to learn (on imdb) that she's English, she doesn't have the slightest trace of an English accent. We learn that California's real name is "Clarence" (Carlson). We learn that the Big Dome Saloon, in Spring City, offers "free lunches." We learn that in keeping with his wholesome image, Hoppy "never touches" cigars. The silver mine/crooked Westerners vs. naive Easterners plot is interesting, with some turns & several nice touches. There are a couple of obvious gaffs, including Hoppy firing a shot back at his own men during a horse chase (no baddies are even visible around the bend); 5 baddies push a flat lying boulder that must weigh half a ton; & not to be outdone, Hoppy lifts a mine girder that must weigh several hundred pounds! Overall well-done & enjoyable, with three gunfights & good action scenes. I rate it 7/10.