The Marauders

With King Of The Raiders as an example you can see how the Hopalong Cassidy series was running out of steam. Budgets got cheaper when producer Harry Sherman started doing his series independently releasing them through United Artists. More production values definitely were over at Paramount. This film essentially is one scene play most of action taking place in a church where William Boyd, Andy Clyde, and Rand Brooks go for shelter one stormy night.

Where they find mother and daughter Mary Newton and Dorinda Clifton together with 'Deacon' Ian Wolfe. In the morning there are some other people who say they own the property and want to tear down the church. The women object as Newton is the widow of the late pastor and Clifton his daughter. Mother and daughter in distress, nothing else for a cowboy hero to do but fight for them.

So they're all holed up in the church defending it like the Alamo. Still I can't believe there was a back door for Hoppy to go in and out of . You'd think the bad guys would be watching it.

If you can't figure who is the dastardly villain you haven't seen too many of these. That could be a blessing.

Hoping to aid the few remaining residents, Hoppy, California and Lucky investigate a ghost town that has been purchased dirt cheap by an unknown woman.

This Hoppy western is a ghost town mystery with a difference, it's set mainly in a church, which group of bad hombres want to destroy. It's not a typical Hoppy western, actually it's quite unusual, has good atmosphere and good characters. It's entertaining from beginning to end, though I sort of guessed who the main culprit was.

The main thing wrong with this entry is the title, or both titles to be exact, the original 'The Maraurders', and the re title 'King of the Range', neither reflects anything about the film, why they didn't just call it 'Ghost Church' I'll never know? We know that the William Boyd produced final 12 films were of a much lower budget than what had gone before, but Boyd put all he had into it in order to prolong the series, it's a shame no other studio took up the franchise because Hoppy was still more popular than most! But, any Hoppy is better than none, so I give it an 8.

"The Marauders" (aka "King of the Range") marks a milestone for me...it's the 66th out of 66 Hopalong Cassidy films that I have seen. And, fortunately, it also is very original and is very much unlike the other 65!

When the story begins, Hoppy, California and Lucky just finished driving a herd to market. On their way back to the Bar 20 Ranch, a storm comes upon them quickly...and the trio take refuge in a church in a ghost town. However, their slumber is disrupted when two ladies arrive. They then learn that there are three folks living in this town...making it a mostly ghost town! Susan then tells the men that the town became abandoned after all sorts of strange things and deaths occurred...and most everyone ran instead of facing whatever forces were behind it. Soon after, some nasty men arrive and start tearing the church down...until Hoppy stops them. What's next? Well, these nasty galoots are NOT finished and soon they attack the barricaded folks inside the place! What's next??

This is among the most unusual films from the franchise I have seen and practically the entire story takes place inside the church. The only problem is that one of the characters is a bit transparent....and it's pretty easy to guess that they are hiding something. But this is a minor problem in an otherwise unusual and engaging B-western.

Just watched Hop a Long Cassidy movie called King of the Range (1947).Was wondering why there is no info on the movie, let alone credits.