Call of the Prairie

Call Of The Prarie does not have its usual trio complement of Hoppy and two sidekicks in it. Apparently Harry Sherman was still experimenting with the series with William Boyd going pretty much his own way.

He has to because James Ellison is again in trouble. On a cattle buying trip Hoppy made so much money that he brought presents for all the hands including a nice pair of spurs. But Ellison's fallen in with bad companions drinking and gambling and being regularly taken for his money in a crooked card game run by Al Bridge and assisted by Gabby Hayes.

Yes Gabby's not part of the Bar 20 crew, he's a worthless no good bandit but he does have a pretty daughter played by Muriel Evans who is innocent of her father's crimes, but does keep Ellison dangling.

It really gets bad when Bridge and his gang shoot Bar 20 foreman Buck Peters and pin it on Ellison. Later they rob the bank for which Ellison also gets the blame. All with Gabby's help.

It's Ellison who needs the help and Hoppy gives it as you would expect he would.

Making Hayes a bad guy was a bad idea. He'd played them before but now the movie going public expected him as the lovable old bragging codger forever dropping his "Gs".

Bridge was a regular villain mostly in urban dramas. He was a favorite of Preston Sturges at Paramount.

Not one of the better Hoppys.

In the late 1940s, William Boyd (the real name for Hopalong Cassidy) made a brilliant deal. He bought the rights to all his films and edited them down in order to make a weekly TV show...one that brought tons of marketing money for Hoppy merchandise and kids of the day loved him. But what about the original unedited films? Well, Cassidy apparently kept them and these newly restored originals were recently posted to YouTube. "Call of the Prairie" is just one of many I have found on this site.

As I watched "Call of the Prairie", I felt very confused. Johnny (James Ellison) is a jerk...much more than his usual not exactly bright persona in the Hopalong Cassidy films. But if that wasn't enough, I was shocked when I saw familiar Gabby Hayes....who made many Hopalong Cassidy films...playing a villain, not the lovable coot Windy!!! In fact, it's been a long time since I ever saw Hayes play a baddie. Now I know he did in his earlier westerns...such as a few of John Wayne's B-westerns. But in those earlier westerns, he wore his teeth and played rather dapper villains. In other words, in these pictures, George Hayes isn't playing his Gabby (or Windy) persona at all. By 1936 he was a dependable lovable coot sidekick sort....and casting him as this villain was quite shocking in "Call of the Prairie"! I mean...it's hard to imagine that Gabby had gone bad!

The film begins as Hoppy arrives back at the ranch after selling his boss' stock. Now the boss has a lot of money and Johnny begs him for some. But Buck refuses, as Johnny has been gambling and hanging with jerks....and behaving like a jerk himself. After storming off, Johnny tells his ne'er do well friends about this...and they get him drunk and pump him for information. With this information, they try to rob Buck and end up beating him up in the process AND framing Johnny for it! Now everyone seems to think Johnny is more than a big dummy but also a crook! Naturally, it comes to Hoppy investigating and learning the truth.

I would imagine that many serial B-western fans would dislike "Call of the Prairie" because the trio of Boyd, Ellison and Hayes was familiar and beloved...but here the trio isn't exactly lovable. Hoppy is Hoppy, Johnny is even dumber and much more annoying than usual (he was often headstrong) and Windy (Gabby) is scum!! Of course, I could also imagine a few fans liking this as it prevented the films from all looking the same....and this certainly is a departure in style!

So is it any good in my opinion? Yes, though having Johnny behave this foolishly seems a bit limp. And, despite being a Hopalong Cassidy film, he's really just a secondary character...and Johnny is the lead. Having a weak character playing the lead isn't a great thing...especially because repeatedly Johnny make really foolish choices...even AFTER he realizes his new friends are all crooks. Not a great film but still enjoyable and worth seeing if you like old B-westerns. More Hoppy and less Johnny would have probably made for a better story.



By the way, in an interesting bit of casting, Chester Conklin was cast as a sheriff. Conklin originally gained fame by being in many Mack Sennett films...including his Keystone Kops.

And, finally, early in the film someone calls Hayes 'an old Sour Dough'. This term was used to denote that he was an old, experienced prospector...I looked it up, as I had no idea what it meant.

The fourth of the sixty-six Hopalong Cassidy pictures is one of the best. When Howard Lang is shot, everyone blames it on James Ellison, who's been getting drunk with the wrong people -- including Gabby Hayes as a bad guy with a pretty daughter. It's all an excuse for the baddies to rob and plunder and stuff like that there, and it's up to William Boyd to sort out matters, with a combination of brains, good humor, threatening, and gunplay.

Paramount and RKO were producing the best B westerns in this period; if you want to say that the Hopalongs were the best, I won't dispute you. Because of their strong distribution network and studio resources, they could spend extra money, and it shows here, particularly in the brisk editing by Edward Schroeder. Watch out for old-time comedy pro Chester Conklin. He gets a good gag in that actually contributes to the plot!

A gang of thieves attempt to pin an a robbery and shooting on a foolish young man. Disbelieving his guilt, Hoppy sets out to prove his friend's innocence. After a bank is held up and his friend is once again in hot water, Hoppy must put himself in danger in a shoot-out with the gang at a lonely cabin in the hills. Seems like this kid is forever getting his butt in a wringer.

This is one of my favorite Hoppy movies. I love the theme song and believe it to typify that era of the Lonesome Cowboy. I just wish one of today's Country singers would record a new version sticking to the original, of course. I can't find the music anywhere unfortunately. Another element of this movie I found endearing was Willie Fung as Wong. In mu opinion, Willie Fung should have a star on the Hollywood boardwalk. He did numerous movies without being credited and did 6 to 9 movies a year. He was a hardworking actor who fit the bill of the times as an Asian character. I can't leave a review without mentioning my favorite horse of all time, Topper. He was not only beautiful, he had personality and was the best partner a cowboy could have. When watching Hoppy movies pay close attention to Topper's interaction with other horses especially Lucky's horse Copper. Topper was an intelligent and affectionate horse as well as a fine actor. In the movie Three Men from Texas pay attention to the beginning of the film where Lucky and Hoppy are riding along and come to a halt. Watch Topper's interaction with Lucky's horse in this one. It's the call of the prairie in my heart.