Sunset Trail

USA 1939
produced by
Harry Sherman for Paramount
directed by Lesley Selander
starring William Boyd, George Hayes (= Gabby Hayes), Russell Hayden, Charlotte Wynters, Jan Clayton, Robert Fiske, Kenneth Harlan, Anthony Nance, Kathryn Sheldon, Majurice Cass, Alphonse Ethier, Glenn Strange, Claudia Smith, Fred Burns, Tom London, Jack Rockwell, Charles Murphy, Ralph Bucko, Roy Bucko, Bob Woodward
screenplay by Norman Houston, based on characters by Clarence E. Mulford, music by Gerard Carbonara, musical director: Ed Paul

Hopalong Cassidy

review by
Mike Haberfelner

John Marsh (Kenneth Harlan) wants to bring the tidy bit of money he made from his latest cattle deal to the bank in the big city, but on the way there, his stage is held up, he is robbed of his money, and is shot dead - which leaves his wife Anne (Charlotte Wynters) and his daughter Dorrie (Jan Clayton) with some good farmland but no cattle and no money to buy it. But Anne has the solution - why not turn her farm into a dude ranch (= a Western themed holiday resort). Local gambler Monte Keller (Robert Fiske) however wants a part of the action at any cost, and it soon becomes apparent that he might have had his hands in murdering Anne's husband, though there is no hard evidence ... so eventually Hopalong Cassidy is called in to investigate, but disguised as the greenest of greenhorns, who falls off his horse, can't handle a gun and regularly loses at gambling, he seems an unlikely candidate to find out anything at all - which makes it all the easier for him to collect evidence against Keller.

Everything culminates in a game of stud poker in which Cassidy proves he is quite handy with cards, and he releaves Keller of pretty much all of his fortune, but the end the two men fight it out the violent way and ultimately Cassidy has to shoot Keller in self defense, but not without having proven his guilt beyond any doubt ...

Gabby Hayes and Russell Hayden can be seen in their customary roles as Hoppie's sidekicks Windy and Lucky, respectively.

Ok series Western with a few comical highlights featuring William Boyd pretending to be a greenhorn - however he is not comedian enough to pull it off over a longer stretch of time so before long the greenhorn scenes become a bit tedious. Still, the film is a routine and entertaining B-Western, nothing special but not bad either.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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