Forty Thieves

Hoppy runs for sheriff, but loses to Jerry Doyle (Kirk Alyn) when every crook in town votes for Doyle. When Hoppy tries to remove him from office Tad Hammond (Douglas Dumbrille) hires 40 gunslingers to stop him.

Solid Hoppy entry which is full of energy and is quite clever, plus you got Douglas Dumbrille doing his usually dastardly stuff as a convict out for revenge against Hoppy. He cheats in the voting system, causing Hoppy to lose the election as sheriff so he can have a free reign, but Hoppy don't give in too easily.

Forty Thieves is mainly a town western, moves snappily and features great shootouts. Andy Clyde is hilarious as usual as he tries to stuff a big sandwich in his mouth, and Hoppy chortles at his antics.

This episode of the series hits the ground running from the first scene as Hoppy cleans up the territory while newspaper proclaim this with banner headlines.

It's a shoe-in that Hoppy will be re-elected town sheriff, that is until parolee, Tad Hammond rides into town. Still smarting from been sent up the river by Hoppy years earlier, he vows revenge and with the help of the local gangs, he rigs the election. Saloon owner, Doyle is installed as puppet sheriff and the crooks think they've won. Up to the point where Hoppy gives them an ultimatum to leave town and gives the warning of what will happen if they don't in the summary above.

Hoppy has his black duds on and his steely gaze is full on too. Even California proves he isn't quite the bumbling comic relief when he saves Hoppy from a back-shooter. Sadly, Jimmy Rogers is useless and just gets tied up at any occasion.

Good action all the way through with a big shoot out at the finale and a classic fight on a swaying rope bridge above the river. All of which may be clichés now but still entertaining just the same.

If you love action, this episode is for you. Hopalong Cassidy is of course played by William Boyd, who does an impeccable job as usual. Outside of a few nice appearances by a few regular bad guys and California, there's not much to say about the acting which is fairly standard. The appearance of Andy Clyde as California Carlson is always a plus, but unfortunately Jimmy Rogers as "Deputy Jimmy Rogers" isn't one of Hoppy's better sidekicks. The story is also pretty standard fare.

In my mind, what sets this episode apart from many of the later Hoppy movies is the action. There are several gun and fistfights and Hoppy and company manage to dispatch of many of the "forty thieves" on camera. The final fight on the bridge scene is one of the better ones out of all 66 movies, and there's also a classic gunfight in the saloon along with other more standard gun play.

Overall, its fairly standard in most respects except for lots of action. The other elements prevent this from being up there with the very best, but it stands out among some of the weaker later episodes.

Douglass Dumbrille an outlaw who Hopalong Cassidy brought to justice once is out on parole and he's got himself a scheme to take out Hoppy as sheriff. He imports a gang of Forty Thieves to town and they run roughshod over the populace at election time. Believe it or not, the symbol of western law and order is defeated at the polls by Kirk Alyn who is a no good and weak gambler and is Dumbrille's stooge.

Of course these kind of crooked shenanigans might be good for the big city east and their political machines, but in the west they don't cotton to that sort of thing. In the end Hoppy with the help of sidekicks Jimmy Rogers and Andy Clyde get things righted and the real forces of law and order triumph.

With some of the commentary it makes Forty Thieves is one of the more interesting Hopalong Cassidy westerns made. The screenwriter Michael Wilson found himself blacklisted as a result of the HUAC hearings and I can see why some right wing yahoos might object to some of the content of this film.

I'd give it a look, it's quite interesting.

During the 1950s, the B-westerns of heroes like Roy Rogers, Gene Autry and Hopalong Cassidy were hacked to pieces in order to fit them into a TV time slot. In some cases, these adulterated versions are the only ones we have left. Fortunately, William Boyd (Hopalong Cassidy) was smart and kept original copies of his films. And, even more fortunately, these complete versions were posted to YouTube some time back....and they are in gorgeous condition and free to watch.

Douglass Dumbrille made a career out of playing bad guys and scum-bags. So when I saw that he was going to be in "Forty Thieves", I assumed that he'd be some evil boss who ultimately would get his comeuppance from Hoppy! This isn't much of a stretch.

When the story begins, Hoppy is running for re-election as sheriff. To his surprise, he sees an old enemy, Tad Hammond (Dumbrille) rides into town. Apparently, he's been paroled and as sheriff, Hoppy is now Hammond's parole officer! Well, neither Hoppy nor Hammond like this...and Hammond hatches a plan to get rid of Hoppy...at least as sheriff. This means convincing a weak boob to run...and Jerry Doyle is just such a boob! But to win the election, well, that takes a bit of trickery, as Hoppy is a popular guy and well liked by the good people of the town. So Hammond brings in a bunch of thugs to do whatever needs to be done to make sure Hopalong loses! What's next? See the film and find out for yourself.

Like all the Hopalong Cassidy films I've seen, this one features two sidekicks...usually one who is an old coot (Andy Clyde) and another who sings and does the romancing (Jimmy Rogers).

While the cheating in this film isn't exactly subtle, the film is clever and fun...like most Hopalong Cassidy films. Not among his best, but still enjoyable.