User Reviews

The Mexican Border plays a role in a lot of B Western stories, and here's another one featuring Hopalong Cassidy (William Boyd) and his pals California Carlson (Andy Clyde) and Breezy Travers (Jay Kirby). In this one, a gang of outlaws is raiding both sides of the border, and the leader has found a way to implicate both Hoppy and his Mexican counterpart Don Tomas Gonzales (Antonio Moreno) in the robberies. There might have been no story here if Don Tomas heeded Hoppy's advice on speaking to him privately, but of course, the story is what we came for.

I was surprised to see California actually attempting to court a Mexican senora in the story, usually he's high tailin' it in the other direction. But Rosita Lopez (Eva Puig) knew that the way to a man's heart was through his stomach, and plies California with as much food as he can handle. Correcting one misperception that a couple other reviewers mention here, California's not really in competition with Chris-Pin Martin's character, Fat Miguel, who stated that the five kids in the story were not his and he didn't want to get married. That's made even more plain when Miguel reads a letter from Mexican authorities that states Rosita's husband was not dead, and that he would be arriving home soon.

As for the outlaw bunch, with some clever sleuthing, Hoppy plants a false story for Bob Saunders (Alan Baldwin) to overhear, and gets to the bottom of the phony Hoppy posing as a bandit - it was Bob's mother Donna Louise (Nora Lane)! The whole thing was a bit of a stretch but what the heck, it was a an offbeat move for the film makers and one the matinée crowd probably never saw coming back in the day. Not only that, but a sheriff's deputy (John Vosper as Ed Carson) was in on the scheme as well! As for California's play for Senora Lopez, well let's just say that he's still single as the good guy trio heads off into the sunset.

A United Artists release, 23 October 1942, directed by Lesley Selander.

CAST: William Boyd, Andy Clyde, Jay Kirby, Antonio Moreno, Chris-Pin Martin, Nora Lane, Esther Estrella, Alan Baldwin, Eva Puig, Jack Rockwell, John Vosper, Tony Roux, Pierce Lyden, Ted Wells, Martin Garralaga, Joe Dominguez, Earle Hodgins. 68 minutes. (Available on an excellent Platinum Disc DVD).

COMMENT: United Artists have now taken over from Paramount, but little else has changed in the eleven months interim. Despite its familiar plot, there are hints now and again that this could have been a really worthy entry in the series with less comedy relief from Clyde and Martin and more detailed characterization of the Mexican principals.

Boyd, Moreno and always reliable Jack Rockwell do their best and the photography is often most attractively noirish, but, as said, too little is made of the dramatic moments and too much of the fatuous comic cut-ups.