just watch it!

Absolutely Fantastic

I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Number 31 of the 66-picture series (Zinman's numbering. Paramount's number is 37). In this one, Cassidy changes the color of his shirt from the traditional black to a light gray, similar to the fatigue uniform worn by the Texas Rangers. There's a new horse in this one. Boyd, of course, rides "Topper", but Hayden has a new mount in "Cooper" who replaces the palomino, "Banjo", who was unable to keep silent in front of the cameras.The reason there's so much dialogue in this one and that it's so slowly delivered, Sherman explains, is that he was experimenting in producing a movie which deaf people could lip read with no difficulty. It's also in this entry that Hopalong Cassidy meets up with "California" - and a very boring meeting it is too, running longer than five minutes. "Pop" Sherman once said that his formula for making the Hoppy movies was to "open big, forget about the middle, and come to a thrilling finish." That's certainly what happens here. After Hoppy teams up with "California", they join "Lucky" and then proceed to make Santa Carmen "a fine place for folks to live in". Fortunately, they do so via some thrilling action sequences - so thrilling indeed that the TV Censor has been at this film, mutilating at least four scenes. Russell Harlan's photography is well up to his usual high standard. Victor Young has written a music score for three or four of the action highlights, but the rest of the film has no music whatever! Lesley Selander's direction has occasional touches of inventiveness.

This 31st entry of the 66 films in the Hopalong Cassidy series marks the first of 35 consecutive appearances, in the remaining films of the series, of Scottish-born comedian Andy Clyde in the role of "California Carlson", although his introduction in this film is as "California Jack" Carlson and his credentials won't bear much scrutiny. The film finds local officers in an outlaw-infested town in California helpless to cope with the situation and a citizens committee comes to Texas and appeals to the Texas Rangers for help in organizing the forces of law and order. Captain Andrews of the Rangers offers the assignment to Hopalong Cassidy and Lucky Jenkins, but Cassidy, whose period of service in the Rangers is almost over, refuses. The as-usual impetuous Lucky takes the job alone. WWhile on patrol duty, Cassidy is following the trail of a large herd of rustled horses and discovers the hide-out of the Bruce Morgan gang. Fun B picture stuff. You cant go wrong. But can you go right?

All those Hopalong Cassidy films! And the only ways anyone can ever see them in the UK is if they buy imported DVD's or download off the internet, because they're never on TV. This is mainly because these type of Hollywood b Westerns are considered derisory by the suits – I got news for them: it's current TV programming that is derisory, no one will watch any of it in 70 years time like HC still is.Be warned: the IMDb plot summary gives out the entire story, but basically after receiving a call for help from California Texas Rangers Hoppy & Lucky are up against a tough gang of land grabbers. To the background sound of clinking spurs we're treated as usual to plenty of chases, wonderful scenery, gunfights, a brief romance for Lucky, a neck-tie party, comedy this time coming from Andy Clyde joining the team. William Boyd and Russell Haydon put in their usual good performances as the unflappable Cassidy and young sidekick Lucky. Favourite bit: California winging one of the baddies, then shooting him dead. Hoppy reproaches in jest "You ought to be ashamed of yourself shooting at a cripple" – "I was only trying to be humane" – swift justice indeed!I think I've probably seen about a bar-20 of these films but it looks par for the course, a well made programmer with so-so acting and plot but mainly for the kids and people like me. Don't bother if you're a serious type.

Although William Boyd's Hopalong Cassidy is a more mature cowboy then Roy Rogers or Gene Autry, this one is darker than usual. There's still the same humor (provided this time by Andy Clyde) as always, but the humor is much more somber than usual.There are fewer fight scenes then some, but the fight scenes are extremely well-done for a B-western. This is also one of the longest of the Hopalong movies.The reason I love this movie so much is because it is of refreshingly hight quality, the characters are consistent and 3-dimensional (unlike many B-westerns), and the story is unusually good. Just goes to show why Hopalong Cassidy is one of the best cowboy movie heroes there is.