Law of the Pampas

This movie has changes from the usual Hopalong Cassidy movies. Changes for the good. Start with the supposed location of Argentina. That sets up a plot variation. But the best part is the actors. Paramount did a good job. Start with Sidney Toler who played Charlie Chan in many movies. He became Charlie Chan after Warner Oland died. Then add Sidney Blackmer. His career spanned silent movies and talkies. The latter includes The Count of Monte Cristo as bad guy, Mondego. Their screen time meant less time for Lucky. A refreshing change. A thumbs down on whoever created his character. The only "wrong" is no Gabby Hayes or Andy Clyde.

Hoppy (William Boyd) and his pal Lucky (Russell Hayden) head to South America to look after a herd of cattle sold by Cassidy's boss to an Argentine rancher. Villain Ralph Merritt (Sidney Blackmer) wants to get his mitts on that cattle, and he's not above hiring the scum of the earth to do his bidding. Fortunately, Hoppy, Lucky and their new Latin American buddy Don Fernando (Sidney Toler) make short work of the bad guys in an outsized barroom brawl.

There's a change of scenery in this Hopalong western - Hoppy and co. Vamoose to South America, become gauchos, delivering cattle there, but needless to say, they end up knee deep in trouble - there's more intrigue and mystery in this one as Hoppy realises that the deaths of the son and daughter of Valdez, Argentinian rancher, wasn't a mere accident. He suspects the rancher's son in law ... it's a well-plotted and solid western with grand scenery and engaging story. A strong entry.

Back in the late 1940s and early 50s, many old series B-westerns were chopped to pieces in order to fit them into one hour time slots on TV. Unfortunately, in some cases, the original longer versions were lost. Fortunately, in the case of Hopalong Cassidy's film, the original excised footage was saved and recently restored. Fortunately, the copy of "Law of the Pampas" that I just saw on YouTube is one of the restored ones...running at 71 minutes instead of the much shorter 50-55 minutes.

When the story begins, Hoppy meets Mr. Valdez, a rich rancher from South America who is visiting the United States. Not surprisingly, Valdez likes Hoppy...after all, good people always love him! At first, Hopalong isn't interested in bringing cattle to Valdez in Argentina, but after his suspicions are raised concerning the 'accidental deaths' in the Valdez family, he agrees to go...along with his somewhat blabber-mouthy friend, Lucky. Once there, it becomes increasingly obvious that the deaths were not mere accidents and Valdez's own son-in-law might just be behind all this!

Considering that this is a B-western, it probably will come as no surprise to learn that it was filmed in California, not Argentina. But the look of the film with the Sierras was a nice substitution. Plus, Paramount seemed to do an excellent job in replicating the look of South America--with bolos, gauchos and folks drinking mate out of a bombilla. In other words, they tried to get the right look...which is a bit unusual. Also, I appreciated how these 'South Americans' were not bad stereotypes and were very decent folk...a very sensitive portrayal for the times. Overall, very enjoyable and a wonderful change of pace.