L'invincible Cassidy

Not the greatest Hopalong Cassidy movie, but not a bad effort. After a hard roundup the men of the Bar 20 head into town for some fun. That is all except "Hoppy" (he tells the rest of the boys "I'll see you back here in two weeks, and be practically sober!") and "Pappy" (enjoyingly played by Frank Darien in his only appearance in the Cassidy series). Later joined by "Lucky" the trio have a series of adventures which commence with their being arrested by a crooked landowner. Also prominent is an unusual love story, a curmudgeonly storekeeper, and of course the usual romance involving "Lucky" (Charles Hayden) which ends in plenty of action. Light-hearted and fast-moving throughout.

Its been a long time since I watched a Hopalong feature film. This one kind of surprised me. The plot was more complex than the average horse opera. The acting is what you would expect of this type genre and funding. There were some surprisingly well-done shots by the camera as well. All in all, much higher rated than those who said it lacked this and that. Not a great movie, but one I would submit is about as good as it gets for this type movie. Hoppy actually has a serious interest in the girl ... but still rides off into the sunset with his buddies and his horse.

Cassidy Of Bar 20 has two things unique in the series. I only recall one other time that actual personality from the old west is in a Hoppy movie as a character. One was a later Belle Starr story and in this one Clay Allison makes an appearance. However the real Allison assuredly no boy scout was not anything like the rat we see in this film.

The other is that Frank Darien makes his one and only appearance as the old timer sidekick for Hoppy. There were a few before producer Harry Sherman settled on Andy Clyde after Gabby Hayes left. He was just simply Pappy and he rode a mule. He never really took and I can see why Sherman just used him once and that was that.

Allison is making trouble for small ranchers like John Elliott and his wife who had some history with Hoppy sends for him. Allison is played by Robert Fiske and he's not got much in the way of character. He does a couple of cold blooded murders in Cassidy Of Bar 20 and pays in the end.

Hoppy fans should like this. Belle Starr made out better in a Hoppy movie, Clay Allison far worse.

When bad-guys begin harassing the townsfolk, Hoppy's (William Boyd) former gal Nora Blake (Nora Lane) sends him a plea for help. Hoppy is the boss of Bar 20 ranch in Texas, so he rides down the Camino Real in the New Mexico cattle country near Alamogordo.

Before he and his saddlemates, "Lucky" Jenkins (Russell Hayden) and "Pappy (Frank Darien), can reach her ranch, they are stopped by Clay Allison (Robert Fiske), a cattle-rustler who is in almost complete control of the district, and wants to extend his holdings by seizing Nora's cattle and driving her out.

The plot portion where Hopalong and co. Volunteer to wrangle horses for bad guy cattleman instead of paying fine and going prison is unusual and makes a change from a straightforward Hopalong taking on the crooked cattleman. There's nice cinematography, lush mountain scenery and some good action, well at least in the finale.

I picked up a few of the Image Entertainment "Hopalong Cassidy" DVDs owing to a friend's research for a magazine article...I had seen numerous examples of Boyd's excellent acting and wanted to see if watching whole "Hopalong" features would be rewarding. As I had hoped, the features are very good.

One expects a certain level of acting in B movies...better than a high-school stage play, but less depth than major movie characters. B movie performances usually have enough personality to explain what a character is doing at the time...but not enough to account for what the character is like, off-screen. It's one of the excellences of Boyd's acting; you feel that he is just as honest and competent and well-meaning before the movie starts, and in scenes where he does not appear. Most of the other characters are not so well-written or well-played, that one considers their backstory.

The exception in this movie is Gertrude Hoffman as Ma Caffrey, a crusty old general-store manager. At first she appears to be a typical comic-relief gun-totin' old lady, who thinks one of Hoppy's partners looks like her dead husband. Later she talks to that partner, who's been ordered by the court to help around the store. She says:

"Jeff's a good boy. Ain't scared to stand behind a gun and shoot for what's right. Jeff's pa was a Federal Marshal; got killed fightin' for the gov'ment. Yep, fell dead right where you're standing. I've tried to learn Jeff right from wrong. Clay Allison wouldn't be where he is today if it weren't for my Jeff. Allison's round-up crew'll be here today. Fightin' men from the border; they're a bad lot; al's bring trouble." ...and in that brief minute or so you COMPLETELY believe her and her grief for her husband and her disappointment in her son, working for Mr. Allison (who's the villain of the film). It's an A-picture performance...the sort of thing that wins "Best Supporting Actress" nominations if the movie is "respectable" enough. It's plain the actress thought the part through; her every line implies her past and her ongoing relationship with her townspeople and her son.

Is this worthwhile if a person doesn't care for the Western genre? Not really. Is it worth showing to young actors as an example of doing a lot with a small part? Yes, certainly! Does it demonstrate once again that not all low-budget movies have second-rate casts? Sure!