Silver on the Sage

Hoppy goes undercover as a gambler from the East when Bar 20 cattle are stolen by unknown rustlers. Brennan/Talbot are twin brothers (one a casino owner, the other a rancher) and Hoppy believes they provide alibis for each other while one is out committing crimes. Hoppy gets a job in the casino to learn more but is exposed when a gambling gunslinger notices him.

In this well-plotted and leisurely western Hoppy goes undercover as a gambler, Lucky tries to nab a foreman for stealing cattle and ends up in jail for killing a cattle rancher and Gabby Hayes mosies down the saloon to convince everyone he's an outlaw- it's decent entry, but a little slow at times. Nice to see Gabby and Lucky get more screen time.

Okay Hoppy entry. Action doesn't pick up until the last when we get lots of scenic hard riding and a poorly staged gun battle. I could also have used more eye candy from the movie's only girl. (Too bad blonde actress Rogers died so young; I wish we knew why.) The plot is more involved than usual as threads follow each of our three heroes trying to infiltrate the rustler gang where there's an unusual twist. Anyway, there's a scenic desert backdrop, along with Hoppy, Lucky, and Windy. And that's the thing- they combine so well as a trio that they carry even the slowest stories. No wonder the series lasted so long.

In case you don't know (though I mention it in many of my review for his films), the Hopalong Cassidy films are available on YouTube and this is THE place to find them. This is because in the 1950s, the B-westerns of Roy Rogers, Gene Autry and Hopalong Cassidy (among others) were edited down for television time slots. But William Boyd (Cassidy) saved original prints...and his estate recently restored them and posted them to the site. So, you can't find better prints anywhere....complete and looking amazing.

When the story begins, Lucky and Windy are out tending the Bar 20 cattle when rustler's are able to steal many of them. Instead of running to get Hoppy, they decide to try to find them on their own. As for Hoppy, when he finds out he also follows the trail and ends up going to a crappy crime-infested town. But instead of letting folks know who he is, he pretends to be a professional gambler in order to cozy up to the local baddies. What's next? See the film.

The only real weakness of the film is that Hoppy is supposed to be pretty famous and him going incognito seems a bit far-fetched. Otherwise, it's another enjoyable and well written installment of the series...well worth seeing.

One of the last Hopalong Cassidy movies to feature Gabby Hayes (as "Windy"). Gabby & Russell Hayden (as "Lucky") have larger roles than usual in this film, & Hoppy appears only after the first 9 minutes have gone by! There isn't too much action until near the end of the film, but this movie is well done & interesting. Windy claims to be the well known stagecoach robber named Black Bart, & even has "Wanted" posters printed with his photo on them. For Hoppy completists, we learn that Windy carries a Remington 1876 reissue revolver (unloaded!). For added fun, there's also a quite noticeable blooper at the end. Windy leaves on his horse, & Hoppy mounts Topper to follow him, but Topper's first step is into a bucket of water! William Boyd (as "Hopalong Cassidy"), a pro with many years of acting experience, looks down to see what happened on both sides of Topper, with a startled expression, but continues the scene as written! His laughter is on cue for Windy's departure, but also fits Topper's accidentally stepping into the bucket of water. I give it 8/10.

Very entertaining movie. Nice pace; moves along to something fresh as it progresses. Very pretty, well-spoken leading lady, Ruth Rogers. Russell Hayden (along with James Ellison) are my favorite young sidekicks, and Gabby Hayes is by far my favorite comic sidekick for Hoppy (Andy Clyde is like fingernails scraping a blackboard, to me). I liked the humor and banter between Ellison and Hayes. It was very funny and cute when twice Happy fired from behind when Hayes was shooting, giving the credit to Hayes. The story was interesting. All the actors were fine. I enjoyed the understated humor, like: seeing one juror at the inquest sleeping; the bar tender trying to break up a brawl by saying "I got some good liquor here; they made a mistake in the shipment this time;" and Gabby haplessly trying to be seen as an outlaw by handing out phony wanted posters with his picture on it (at one point the Marshall turned over one of the posters to use the paper for making notes!). Other good scenes involved Hoppy playing poker, and his noticing who was Talbot and who was the alibi by observing which one licked his thumb while dealing.

***spoilers***

I liked the movie even with these silly director and screenplay mistakes: (1) in one scene I noticed to myself how slow Hoppy was in drawing his gun during a poker game. An then shortly later, I almost fell off my chair when one bad guy commented that it must be Hopalong Cassidy because only three people could draw that fast: Hoppy and two others that he knew. (2) the Owner of the Lazy J Ranch (Hamilton) ordered his foreman, Talbot, to go to the ranch to work, but Talbot went to town. Shortly thereafter, Lucky brings Talbot to the ranch, and Hamilton says he and Lucky will bring Talbot to the Marshall for questioning. Why? Hardly a good reason. (3) On the way to the Marshall, the bad guys have Hamilton killed. Why? I couldn't see a good reason. (4) Unbelievable coincidence: The bad guys ride out to the range and happened to stop to talk right next to where Lucky and Hayes are camping, and the two secretly hear an important conversation! (5) Similar to the above, the bad guys happen to leave one guy behind on the range. And he secretly hears Hoppy's plan that Hoppy will mark his trail (with ribbons) so his friends can follow him. (6) at a close distance, as Hoppy is riding away, Talbot draws and fires at Hoppy, and misses!