O Enganador

Most of the better Hopalong Cassidy films are a cut above typical B westerns of the 30s and 40s and this one stands out among the Cassidys. Some of the violence here and in other Hoppy films, particularly "The Eagle's Brood" and "Three Men from Texas", suggests that these films were not really intended for children. The plot is a good one that sets Hoppy and his friends off on another mission to help out someone they don't really know, but who is in trouble. That's Hoppy all over. The cast is typically first rate and full of seasoned pros, like Douglas Dumbrielle, a perennial villain. Boyd, of course, always raises the bar for B westerns as a long-time movie pro, whose roots go back to the silents of DeMille and Griffith. Thus, he brings more depth and realism to his interpretation of Cassidy that Gene Autry or Roy Rogers, both really singers, brought to their films, although I'm a huge fan of both of them as well. I don't want to give away spoilers, but I recommend that you put this one near the top of your list of Hoppy films to watch.

False Colors is an above average entry in the Hopalong Cassidy series. Young Tom Seidel, a ranch hand on Cassidy's Bar 20 spread is gunned down without any apparent reason. But there's a big reason it turns out, young Seidel is the heir to two thirds of the Diamond Hitch ranch in another part of the state. It seems as though he ran away from home as a kid and his father has died and split inheritance that way with he and his sister.

So Hoppy, Jimmy, and California go off to the Diamond Hitch country and find someone posing as their recently deceased friend. Tom Seidel is playing both the heir and the impostor.

Anyone with any kind of experience watching B westerns will know that it is banker Douglass Dumbrille behind the dastardly scheme as he's behind any number nefarious enterprises in film. Dumbrille even has sheriff Roy Barcroft in his pocket. The suspense here is how Hoppy and his pals save the situation for the sister and now real sole heir of the ranch. Let's just say he's got something up his sleeve and he doesn't tip his hand right away.

In the cast as one of Dumbrille's henchmen is Robert Mitchum and this is one of about half a dozen Cassidy westerns where Mitchum got some of his earliest roles. He has a really brutal saloon fight with Bill Boyd who has to save Andy Clyde from a beating. Truth be told Andy Clyde kind of deserved one. But you see the film to find out.

It's a nicely plotted story, definitely above average for a B western and even a Hopalong Cassidy film which were generally above average as B westerns went. Jimmy Rogers is playing a character with his own name and Jimmy was the younger son of Will. Truth be told he's not much of an actor, but the part doesn't exactly call for Robert DeNiro.

When the story begins, Hoppy and his two pals have come to town where they meet an old friend, Bud. But a short time later, some unknown gunman kills Bud...and this occurs shortly after Bud named Hoppy and his two sidekicks (California and Jimmy) as his beneficiaries. Now, the three own 2/3 interest in Bud's childhood home...a huge ranch in a different town. So, the three head there...only to witness a man SAYING he's Bud arriving in this town!! Apparently, someone has found a guy who looks much like Bud...and since the guy hasn't been in town for a decade, the plan was to have him substitute...and then sell the ranch to a local baddie (Douglass Dumbrille) so he can control all the water rights. Then, this bad man can effectively destroy all the other ranchers unless they pay him for the water...and it won't come cheaply!

Now you MIGHT think Hoppy would immediately expose this faux Bud, but he doesn't. This is because he wants to know who is behind this scheme...who orchestrated the murder of Bud and who trained the fake one to double for Bud. It's actually really obvious who is behind all this....especially since Dumbrille played evil baddies in about 95% of his movies!!

So is this film any good? Well, yes and know. It's handled very well and is interesting...though the notion of a bad guy trying to muscle out all the local ranchers is hardly an original one. Fortunately, HOW he would do this was pretty original...if a bit strange! It's also very fortunate that the Cassidy family estate apparently kept original copies of his westerns...because, like so many B-western stars, his movies were hacked to pieces to make them fit into TV time slots in the 1950s. But recently, restored originals were posted to YouTube...and you can see this one there at its original length and form.

As you watch this film, it's interesting to see Robert Mitchum as one of the baddie's hired guns. In fact, 1943 was the first year he appeared in films....and he made several Hopalong Cassidy's movies that year. Along with Mitchum is Glenn Strange...and Strange ALWAYS played bad guys in B-westerns! So much for being type cast! It wasn't until he began playing Frankenstein in the mid-1940s that he began doing something different! And, when he was a regular on TV's "Gunsmoke" he was able to finally consistently play a nice guy...not a monster nor hired gun slinger!

By the way, in the scene where Kit Moyer confronts the boss near the end of the film, note that as he and Hoppy enter the doorway that you can clearly see the shadow from the microphone!

Bud Lawton, one of Hoppy's young ranch hands, is ambushed and killed right after he has had a lawyer draw up a business agreement in which he names Hoppy, California and Jimmy as his full partners in his 2/3rds ownership of a ranch that he has just inherited from his estranged father. Hoppy and his sidekicks decide to visit the ranch and upon arrival discover that "Bud Lawton" has returned to the old homestead. The imposter has been hired to do the impersonation by a rat who wants the water rights which go with the property and hopes to get the property by having the imposter convince Lawton's sister to sell the ranch. Douglas Dumbrille as usual does a marvelous job playing the villain, Mark Foster. Of course if this movie is remembered at all by non-B western fans it's because of Robert Mitchum. And what a good job he does. I've seen an early John Wayne western and I can't say that I thought he was anything special but Mitchum does shine in this early film, especially in the poker playing scene and the subsequent barroom brawl with Hoppy. I like Andy Clyde as California but must agree with a previous reviewer that he kinda was asking to get hit after his inappropriate kibitzing at a poker game.

A good 'Hoppy', as most of them are. A decent punch up between Hoppy & bad guy Bob Mitcham, didn't really take to new sidekick Jimmie Rogers, to me he looked like a young Jimmy Durante, complete with 'hooter'. Good old Andy Clyde was his usual amusing self, and the usual solid cast of characters both bad & good, plus quite a decent plot makes this an enjoyable oater all round!