In Old Mexico

Straightforward "Hoppy" fare of revenge and murder across the border, with pals Lucky and Windy along for the ride. Some feminine treachery puts a twist on the plot, and seeing Jan (Jane) Clayton of much later "Lassie" TV fame as singing and shooting "Anita", is fun. She married Russell Hayden (Lucky) the year this was made.

As the title says Hoppy, Lucky, and Windy go south of the border In Old Mexico paying a visit to Al Ernest Garcia playing old friend Don Carlos Gonzalez in answer to a summons. Not like Don Carlos isn't happy to see an old friend, it's just that he didn't do any summoning.

That note was written by escaped criminal Paul Sutton a notorious outlaw known as The Fox who has escaped a hanging and looking to settle the score with Hoppy and Don Carlos's son Trevor Bardette who is a colonel in the Mexican Rurales. They put The Fox away once.

Sutton kills Bardette outright but still has Hoppy to deal with. What was unusual here for a Cassidy western is that most criminals had a healthy respect for Hoppy's instincts. Sutton has them, he just doesn't care. Sutton has a carefully laid plan to put Hoppy in his hands and it's going according to schedule or so he thinks.

In fact Betty Amann plays a femme fatale in charge of seducing Mr. Cassidy. Bill Boyd is up to her tricks as well.

It's all good in the end though as you would expect a Hopalong Cassidy picture would be.

When the episode begins, Hopalong arrives in Mexico at the home of Colonel Gonzalez, as he received a note from Gonzalez saying he wanted to meet him there. However, the note is fake...and at the same time, Gonzalez received word that Hoppy wanted to meet him...in the desert! However, they both are being manipulated by Zorro, 'the Fox', a bandit that Gonzalez and Cassidy sent to prison some time ago. But Zorro has escaped and now wants to kill both these men...and he soon dispatches Gonzalez. What no one realizes is that Zorro's evil sister is staying with the Gonzalez family....and she is trying to seduce Cassidy in order to maneuver him into harm's way.

This is a good but not great movie. Much of it is because both Cassidy's buddy, Lucky AND the Colonel's sister, Anita, are incredibly stupid characters...too stupid. As a result, Hoppy not only has to solve the crime but keep these two from getting killed in the process! Still, enjoyable and an amiable time passer.

Escaped criminal "The Fox" hates Hoppy and a Rurales colonel for imprisoning him and lures Cassidy to Mexico in order to exact his vengeance in a good Hoppy western brimming with the usual scenic splendour, humour ( A big mama takes a shine to Gabby Hayes) and a menacing villain. There's a good twist regarding there being bad one in the hacienda. That's the Fox's sister. Not a great Hoppy but it's good enough to enjoy.

"The Fox" (Paul Sutton) is out for revenge and lures Hoppy across the border via a letter from an old friend into Mexico. Hoppy finds that his friend has been murdered and had left a partial message written in the sand, "Zorro", Spanish for Fox. Hoppy, who had captured "The Fox" in "Borderland", whilst working undercover for both the U.S. and Mexican governments; the Fox had been leading raids on both sides of the border.

Morris Ankrum aka Stephen Morris played "The Fox" in "Borderland". Paul Sutton does a fine job as "The Fox"; but for the sake of continuity I would have preferred Morris Ankrum in the role.

This one is a little more violent than the majority of "Hoppy" pictures but not unnecessarily so, it also has the benefit of a good plot and the story moves along nicely; and "Hoppy", "Lucky" (Russell Hayden) and "Windy" (George "Gabby" Hayes) are in fine form as are the rest of the cast. Highly recommended. See Borderland first, if you can.