Bar 20

In this B western from United Artists and director Lesley Selander. Hopalong Cassidy (William Boyd), along with pals California (Andy Clyde) and Lin Bradley (George Reeves), sets out to buy some cattle for his titular ranch. The trio come across a stagecoach robbery and help a damsel in distress, Marie Stevens (Dustine Farnum). She takes the trio back to her ranch where they meet her fiancee Richard (Robert Mitchum) and friend Mark Jackson (Victor Jory). The bandits who robbed the stage seem to have a larger motive, and Hoppy and his pals may just become targets themselves. Also featuring Betty Blythe, Douglas Fowley, Francis McDonald, and Earle Hodgins.

This was the 48th of 66 Hopalong Cassidy pictures, and it's the first one I've seen. I may have seen bits of others when I was a kid, but this is the only one that I can definitively say that I've seen from start to finish. I watched it for Mitchum, here credited as "Bob Mitchum". His role is quite substantial compared to the others he played in his first year in movies, and he's not bad. This movie did offer the rare sight of seeing Superman sock Robert Mitchum in the jaw. Otherwise, this is the usual B western stuff, made slightly better by the cast. One other note: lead actress Dustine Farnum was the daughter of silent movie western star Dustin Farnum. She was all of 18 at the time, and this ended up being her sole movie credit.