Unexpected Guest

While you might not expect it, YouTube has the best copies of most of the old Hopalong Cassidy films. Not only are they complete, but they are the remastered versions from about 2000...and they look great...practically new in fact.

This film is like the merging of two B-movie genres....a western AND a mystery. Both were very popular short films in the 1930s and 40s. So, while everyone is dressed in western duds, the story is a murder mystery at heart.

It all begins with California (Andy Clyde) learning that he's been named in a will. But there are weird conditions....that the cousin's estate will be divided among seven people...provided they are still alive! This sounds ominous....and it is. Soon, there's a body...which disappears!! Just the sort of thing to expect from an old B murder mystery. Unfortunately, who is responsible for this and more is revealed in the IMDB summary...but I'll still keep this to myself.

As a western, the film lacks a bit. The same can be said about the mystery. I especially disliked the whole 'voices talk to me' part of the story...it's pretty dopey. All in all, a bit of a disappiontment.

Unexpected Guest (1947)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Tired blend of the Horror and Western genres has William Boyd in his famous Hopalong Cassidy role. He plays one of seven relatives who are invited to a will reading where a fortune is to be divided among them. If someone dies their portion will be divided among the living and sure enough a masked phantom starts killing them off one by one. Before renting this movie I had heard a lot of negative things about it with most of the bad comments coming from fans of Boyd's and this character. Many complained that there are more "old dark house" moments than Western ones, which is certainly true so I'm sure many will be upset that Boyd isn't playing with his gun more. This was my first Hopalong movie so I can't compare this to previous ones but I certainly hope they're better than this. The movie is about as boring as something can get even though it remains mildly entertaining as one of those films that you keep watching and waiting for something to happen and before you know it the thing's over with and nothing has happened at all. Cassidy seems too laid back here and the supporting cast doesn't add much and that includes fan favorite Una O'Connor (BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN) as a red herring. Andy Clyde delivers a few good moments as the sidekick. Fans of the slasher series Friday THE 13TH will certainly remember its score and it's interesting to note that there's a sequence around the twenty-minute mark here where the two scores sound almost the same for a few brief seconds. With that said, I doubt too many people will find much entertainment in this film. It moves along rather well but in the end you'll be scratching your head as to why you just wasted your time.

Even though this Hoppy Adventure has a good plot and lots of Mystery it is lacking the action of earlier Hoppy movies. Hoppy only fires his gun in the very first few minutes when a shadowy character tries to "Dry Gulch" them. California Carlson steals this movie with his better than usual antics. All in All I would still recommend this flick to anybody that loves a mystery and Hopalong Cassidy! Did anyone notice that the lawyer and Hoppy also appeared together in "The Greatest Show on Earth" ?

Some of Agatha Christie's mysteries might have been the inspiration for the plot of Unexpected Guest. This Hopalong Cassidy western where Hoppy and Lucky Jenkins travel with California for the reading of a will where Andy Clyde is one of six heirs to a ranch that has more debts than anything else according to lawyer John Parrish.

But Parrish whose whole demeanor screams shyster has been milking the estate with the connivance of one of the heirs. As the heirs start dying like they do in Ten Little Indians it's up to Hoppy to investigate and find out who's the accomplice. Especially with Rand Brooks accused of murdering one of the heirs.

A lot less action in this Hoppy flick than usual. Still it was acceptable to the Saturday matinée kids and a grownup or two.

Kids might not have picked up the tip of the cowboy hat to Agatha Christie but they would have understood the reference to one of Mickey Mouse's enemies, the Phantom Blot. Great film for a Saturday morning showing at the local movie theater for kids. A haunted house, mysterious voices, the murders of various heirs, sliding secret doors, and California Carlson in danger--could it get any better. If you were a typical ten-year old fan of Hoppy then this was pure yummy hamburger. The story moves along quickly and there are a few scares (opportunity to shout out "Watch Out Hoppy!) and just enough laughs to keep a kid's attention focused on the story. Try and remember that this film was made for the eight to twelve year old boy audience of the 40's and 50's and not today's over-sophisticated middle schooler.

And if you don't know The Phantom Blot then you are not the audience for this film.