Boobirt Stylish but barely mediocre overall

Spidersecu Don't Believe the Hype

Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Anoushka Slater While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

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.

pensman Listen I was a Hoppy fan as soon as I could get into the Saturday matinées, somewhere around five. Nothing but free range parenting when I was a kid. We had watched the Sherlock Holmes TV shows with Ronald Howard and Howard Marion-Crawford as the sleuth and his able aide, so we had maybe an idea of an English accent but not much. But we would have been falling out of our seats watching Hoppy, California, and Lucky passing themselves off as English detectives who couldn't handle a gun, ride a horse, or play cards. We knew what was coming. Hoppy and his pals were pulling the wool over the bad guys and would they be surprised to find out the English dandies—taa, taa; cheerio, old boy—were actually Hopalong Cassidy and his pals. And when the revelation came, we cheered and hooted and laughed at the stupid bad guys. This picture was prime horse opera. It would have been perfect if they had dropped the singing. Whoever thought boys between five and twelve liked singing cowboys? That was almost as bad as the good guy kissing the girl—mush, ugh. The relationships that counted were being with your pals and riding a smart horse. In this film, we worried a bit when a secret search of Hoppy's suitcase revealed he and the boys were rangers. We knew there would be an attempt to bushwhack the guys. And there was; but it failed, but then Hoppy and the boys could drop the "monkey suits" and wear their real clothes and let the rustlers know who they really had on their trail. It didn't take long then for Hoppy to find the entrance to the faux cabin and tunnel the rustlers were using. And here you thought that idea was new to the Fast and the Furious franchise. It looks bad as the bad guys get the drop on Hoppy and California, but they escape to help save the day. Those rustlers never had a chance. And another satisfying end to a good Hoppy film. Now start the Batman serial.

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.

sandcrab This Hoppy film starts off a bit slow. An old friend calls on the Bar 20 trio to help stop cattle rustling. Hoppy and pals show up disguised as dude detectives from back East but that doesn't last long. Once the outlaws realize this group can shoot straight and ride like the wind, its all over. Its typical Hoppy fare as good prevails over evil.