Pride of the West

"Pride of the West" is an okay B-western, though MOST Hopalong Cassidy films are better than average. I think much of it is because this one is awfully short. Now it is NOT one of the edited down versions that Cassidy had edited down for television in the 1950s....but it's one that comes in at under an hour in its original form.

The story begins with Windy and Lucky (Gabby Hayes and Russell Hayden) coming back to town after the stage they were driving was robbed. In the process, Lucky was shot but not badly. The bank owner (whose money was stolen in the robbery) is angry and says he's going to bring in an outside detective to investigate. But some of the locals aren't sure if they can trust the banker nor his detective, so they send for Hoppy who investigates.

The biggest problem is that the location of the money and some of the bandits is obvious and it was brought up early in the film....meaning that there isn't a ton of suspense about this. As far as who was behind all this, well, it came as no surprise. Watchable but not among Hoppy's better films.

Good scenic Hoppy. The middle part plays out mainly in town. The first and last, however, feature good hard riding among the rock spires and high Sierras of the Alabama Hills. The plot's fairly standard with a bad guy in town conspiring to prevent ranchers from paying their mortgages, which he'll then confiscate. It's a hardship that likely resonated with Depression era audiences. Good thing Hoppy, Windy (Hayes), and Lucky (Hayden) are there to help out. There's lots of shooting but hardly any falling; I guess some marksmanship lessons are needed. Catch the shoulder puffs on cutie Mary's dress that are big enough to swallow her arms. Too bad actress Field has only two credits; she was certainly talented enough to merit more. Anyhow, Hayes is a funny grouch, Hayden is a winning buddy , while Boyd is his usual entertaining hero. So fans like me should be happy.

(In passing-- the version I saw is clearly missing an opening sequence where Lucky gets wounded in a stage robbery. Apparently, when these features first appeared on TV, they were edited down to accommodate commercials, {IMDB}. Too bad. Hope yours is a complete version.)

Caldwell and Nixon have their men rob the stage and then critcize the Sheriff for not catching the robbers. With her father the Sheriff under pressure, Mary sends for Hoppy who finds the stolen money and sets a trap to bring in the entire gang.

Hoppy isn't just a gun-slick tough guy but a shrewd one and he shows that side of him in this western as he concocts an intricate plan to trap the thieves. There's added suspense as he sets his plan in motion. It's got the usual lively action, great scenery and action, which gives this Hoppy entry a liiiiiittle ( as Gabby Haynes would say) boost. Not the best Hoppy, but entertaining enough with slick production values.

This Hopalong Cassidy movie is #18 or 19 in the series of 66 movies. It's one of the last to feature Gabby Hayes as "Windy." Hoppy doesn't appear until 9 minutes of film have passed, which tends to make his first appearance a bit more dramatic. The scenery, filmed near Mt. Whitney, is beautiful, especially for a B western. There is one exciting fight scene where Hoppy gets head-butted & knocked down (one of the best fight scenes that William Boyd ever did), but the excitement is lost a little bit at the end of the scene, when Hoppy is knocked down again but reaches up to adjust his hat so that it doesn't fall off his head! Other than that, this is probably the poorest of the Hoppy movies that featured Gabby. It's an oddly slow moving western, so slow moving & painstaking in it's detail of "no action," that the slow pace almost seems to have been purposeful. There's lots of following, observing, waiting, watching, & even a very long shot of Hoppy while apparently "thinking." Very short on action, there's only one chase scene, & although Hoppy does shoot his gun a couple of times, he shoots it in the air & not at anybody. The director was so intent on "wasting time" that we actually watch Gabby & Lucky (who oddly wears an arm sling throughout the entire movie, which doesn't even figure into the plot!) count out $30,000 in $20 gold pieces for a good period of time. Bizarre! Even the usually hilarious Gabby is more serious than usual & his humor doesn't quite hit the mark. This movie was apparently a "filler" while they were waiting for the next one to come along. I'm a Hoppy fanatic, but I can only rate this 5/10.

Pride of the West features a lot less action and a lot more plot than is usual for a Hopalong Cassidy feature. In fact Hoppy doesn't even come on the scene until the story is underway.

While Hoppy's away, presumably tending to Bar 20 ranch business, his sidekicks, Windy and Lucky are making a few extra bucks driving a stagecoach. The film opens with them arriving in town after a holdup with Russell Hayden shot in the right arm. For the rest of the film Hayden has his arm in a sling. My guess is that Russell Hayden actually hurt himself and the wound was written in so production wouldn't slow down.

Banker Kenneth Caldwell and land agent James Craig are real unhappy with sheriff Earl Hodgins and bring in their own detective to solve the case. To save dad's reputation, Hodgins's two kids Billy King and Charlotte Field ride for Hoppy who as we know never turns down a request for help.

The rest of the film is a rather intricately plotted plan that Hopalong Cassidy devises to trap the real crooks who he has a pretty good idea who they are. Hayden and Hayes get involved and Billy King and Chinese cook Willie Fung also play a part. It almost doesn't come off, but in true B western tradition it all comes together in the end.

Even the Citadel Film book about the films of Hopalong Cassidy says this is slow moving. I like to think of it as having a better script and better plot than most films of this type. It's a thinking man's Hoppy we see in this and I rather liked him. There is however some gun play and a nice fist fight with Hoppy and henchman Glenn Strange to satisfy the action seekers in all of us.

I think even non-Hoppy fans might like this one.