Borderland

Unlike most Hopalong Cassidy movies, Borderland shows how well William Boyd can act. The same also goes for Gabby Hayes. In the movie, Hoppy attempts to infiltrate a gang of cattle rustlers whose leader, Fox (appropriately named), has been able to escape detection or capture. Hoppy has been "hired" by the Texas Rangers to track down this gang and its leader. In order to make himself credible to the gang, Hoppy acts and behaves as miserably as he can. Even with close friends such as Jimmy Ellison and Gabby Hayes, he appears very crusty and obnoxious, all in an attempt to appear convincing to the local townsfolk, some of whom are members of the Fox gang. Even with a very friendly woman and her young daughter, Hoppy is quite miserable. What is interesting about the movie is how close Boyd comes to destroying a very popular figure during the 1930s. One can imagine tears flowing from the young audiences of that day because of the reaction of the main characters to Hoppy's demeanor as well as being shocked at the contrast in character to the one William Boyd had cultivated over the years. Another interesting sidelite to viewers, but probably unnoticed by the moviegowers of the day is the leg brace worn by the little girl in the movie. No mention of her handicap is mentioned in the movie, so I concluded that the girl had had polio, a common affliction at that time.

If you want to see a completly different Hopalong Cassidy movie, check this one out.

"Borderland" offered William Boyd to play against type and be nasty to all around including his two sidekicks Johnny Nelson (Jimmy Ellison) and Windy Halliday (George "Gabby" Hayes).

Hoppy is sent undercover to infiltrate the organization of a gang of outlaws headed by "The Fox" (Stephen Morris). He agrees to turn against all of his friends in an effort to convince the outlaws that he is on the level. "The Fox" meanwhile masquerades as the town idiot Loco. Hoppy gradually gains the confidence of the gang but is discovered by Loco before he can bring him in.

Boyd must have enjoyed this one. He gets to belly up to the bar and have a few drinks and even gets nasty with a little girl (the charming Charlene Wyatt). Morris (aka Morris Ankrum) equally has a hoot playing the dim-witted Loco.

According to Phil Hardy in his book "The Western", this film with a running time of 82 minutes was the longest of any series western.

Jimmy Ellison left the series after this film. Hayes still hadn't adopted the "Gabby" moniker at this point. Others in the cast include Trevor Bardette as a Mexican Colonel and the venerable George Chesebro as one of Morris' henchmen.

Major Stafford (Earle Hodgins) arrests Hoppy so he can go undercover to try to trap a fox (Morris Ankrum). Sidekicks Windy (Gabby Hayes) and Johnny (James Ellison) are confounded that their trusted partner is a horse thieve. He comes across Loco, "He doesn't have all his machinery" or does he? Charlene Wyatt does a great job as the innocent little girl Molly Rand whose image of Hopalong is shattered when he has to present as a menacing goon to stay undercover. The talented Nora Lane, who left us too soon is wonderful as the boarding house hostess who has to tolerate Hoppy's feigned anger. Wyatt has a great scene with Hoppy in counseling him to "reform". He is protecting the innocence and wisdom of our world's greatest resource, our children. Another message that America needs to learn is that we need patriotic citizens as William Boyd portrayed. With the woeful state we're in now, we need patriots to protect our children and country. Also great performances by John Beach, Trevor Bardette, Al Bridge, John St Polis, and George Cheseboro. Also, great review by PWNYCNY.

What is this movie about? It is about how law enforcement lacks the resources to combat crime and as a result needs to enlist the support of the private citizens who may or may not be willing to help. This movie is also about how people are willing to do thankless jobs and also how a criminal element can cleverly infiltrate itself into the fabric of a community. The movie is also about the extraordinary measures that must be taken to weed out corruption. In this movie Hopalong Cassidy is a private citizen who is asked to engage in highly risky work for the good of his community. The implications are obvious -law enforcement itself cannot deal with the problem which suggests a community that is at risk of being overwhelmed by crime and collapsing. This movie was made in the 1930s when the viability of the economic and political system of the United States was being put to the test. The message of this movie is obvious - the country needs an army of Hopalong Cassidys to save it. The criminal element in this movie - a gang of cattle rustlers - are portrayed as being well organized with a system of informants, led by a man who one would not suspect was the head of a crime syndicate. His resourcefulness is impressive and further reinforces the need for radical action to defeat him and his plans. The actual star of this movie is not Hoppy but the bad guy who is able to organize an entire gang that successfully eludes law enforcement until its leader is tricked, which shows that no criminal is ever so smart that they can evade the law. William Boyd of course plays Hopalong Cassidy with much bravado, and Morris Anktrum plays Cassidy's nemesis. Both actors are excellent. Charlene Wyatt plays the little girl who is a symbol of innocence and reason why the community must be preserved.

This movie is generally a treat. Better than most B-movies, it has a superior cast. I particularly liked child actress Charlene Wyatt. She was so sweet and darling. I'm surprised she didn't have a bigger career. Maybe it had to do with her leg brace, which was never commented on in the movie. James Ellison was a fine sidekick for Hoppy. One of the best moments in the movie was the times Hoppy and Ellison rescued each other in the same way. Perhaps the best feature in the movie for Hoppy fans was seeing him act mean and nasty to all his friends, due to his undercover assignment.

Three minor criticisms are (1) at the start of the movie a lot of time was wasted in the top Ranger brass having Ellison arrest Hoppy and bringing him into headquarters so they could ask Hoppy if he would agree to go undercover as a badman to investigate the bad guys. It seemed like a waste of time to me. What if Hoppy said "no" to the assignment? Ellison didn't even ask what he was arresting Hoppy for. Why not just invite Hoppy down? (2) I guess they do this in B-movies like this, but the Fox, who incognito pretends to be addle minded so he can gather information to use for his criminal plans, exposes himself to his large gang. In real life, one of them would turn him in. (3) Unbelievable the way Hoppy simply rides out into the vast desert and easily comes upon the gang, their hideout, clues, a shot bad guy and the scene where Ellison is about to be shot.