Partners of the Plains

This was my first Hopalong Cassidy film and it was easy to see why "Hoppy" has such a big following. Hoppy works on a ranch and the owner, a spoiled opinionated woman named Lorna Drake visits for the first time and these two get along like oil and water. Hoppy is joined on the ranch by Lucky and Baldy...they end up having a face off with bad guy Scar Lewis and his gang, but the real story is the battle of wills between Hoppy and Lorna.

Classic western in that the good guy rides a white horse, but I couldn't help wishing for a good old fashioned spanking ala John Wayne!

"Men who look like ornaments on a croquet court." (Reference to bow-legged cowboys)

"Any bronc that's worthwhile is worth the trouble taming. "-Hoppy.

The early Hopalong Cassidy films were generally the best & this one is no exception. Hoppy is again joined here by the young Russell "Lucky" Hayden, as they help a lady in distress manage a ranch coveted by several sagebrush ruffians. The lady initially detests Hoppy, but soon becomes enamored of the black-clad foreman.

Gabby Hayes is absent from this film, due to then on-going contract negotiations. While his presence is missed here, this film offers all the best elements of the classic Hoppy film. The action, script and casting here are superb. No one played the western hero better than William Boyd and he is at his prime here!

One of the top 10 Hopalong films !

To my pleasure this was a different kind of Hoppy film, but it retained the best elements of the series — Hoppy's sterling, steely character, and his friendship towards his associates.

The British owners of the L-D Ranch, where Hoppy is the foreman, are visiting the ranch on their way to California. The chief owner is snooty, imperious, self-absorbed Lorna Drake. What is unusual is how Hoppy's love-hate relationship with her dominates the length of the film. In fact, in the first half of the film there is absolutely no bad-guy activities. In the second half of the film, Scar Lewis, who had been sent to jail by Hoppy, finally makes his move: he convinces the spurned lover of Lorna to help him get Hoppy into a remote cabin where they can blast the dam to flood Hoppy to his death. That's it — no robbery, rustling, counterfeiting ring, etc — just a plan to kill Hoppy.

Hoppy's movie-long bickering with Lorna got tiring at times, but for the most part was enjoyable. It's always fun to watch Hoppy's character withstand all adversity and forgive the temporary failings of his friends.

A decent entry in the Hoppy catalogue, with our hero locking horns with an English ranch owner played by Melbourne born actress Gwen Gaze, who starts off disliking Hoppy, and clashing with him often through most of the film, but eventually his charm wins her over! Russel Hayden's 'Lucky' is on hand of course, but no Gabby Hayes in this one, his place taken by Harvey Clark as 'Baldy', he survives the film, but sadly died later in the year at only 52. Gwen Gaze for whatever reason retired from films in 1943, but lived to a ripe old age of 94, dying in 2010. Interesting to look back on these old films now, and follow the lives and fate of all the actors via IMDB.

During the course of the Hopalong Cassidy series, the composition of Hoppy's two sidekicks often changed. Both the handsome younger guy and the grizzled old coot sidekicks are basic archetypes for the series...but who played them varied. The most stable of the two was the old coot. Gabby Hayes played Windy in almost all the early films and later the majority of the times Andy Clyde played California...but in between the studio tried with several others that just didn't seem to fit in very well...such as Britt Wood as Speedy, Frank Darien as Pappy and, in this film, Harvey Clark as Baldy. Sadly, whether Clark would have worked in this role or not, it was his only Cassidy film since he died soon after making this movie!

When the film begins, the Englishwoman Lorna Drake arrives to take control of her family's ranch. This woman is essentially a one-dimensional cartoon, as she seems very unreal...too haughty, too nasty and too much of a know-it-all to be realistic in the old west. To say she's abrasive and unbelievable is pretty much on point.

Lorna immediately takes a dislike for Hoppy...Lord knows why. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, she decides to seduce him...which is super unlikely as in nearly every film, Hoppy is either asexual or shows a mild dislike of dating and female company. Her fiance becomes jealous and enlists the help of a local baddie, Scar, to kill Cassidy. Naturally, the plan backfires and Lorna is nearly killed instead. Can Hoppy save the day as well as tame this shrew?

As I mentioned above, Lorna is a ridiculous character...so abrasive and annoying that I almost stopped watching the movie. Yes, she's THAT bad!! My advice is to resist the urge to stop and stick with it. It does improve....but she STILL remains annoying and hateful. In fact, unlike all the other reviews now posted, I do think this character ruined the movie...making it hard to enjoy. I am a very kind man and would never strike any woman...but Lorna is so awful that I just wanted to see Hoppy punch her in the mouth! That is NOT a glowing endorsement of this film, that's for sure!!