Crooked River

Jimmy "Shamrock" Ellison and Russ "Lucky" Hayden first rode to sagebrush fame as the sidekicks to Hopalong Cassidy. In this 1950 programmer, they try their hands (and guns) as western leads. Along with western veteran Ray Hatton as the Colonel, the trio investigates and works to bust up a thieving plot stealing a pile of $$$$$$$.

Co-starring in this film are Fuzzy Knight as the Deacon and the prolific George Chesboro in a strong supporting role. While the film was typically predictable, the presence of the familiar cast and some welcome pacing made this a decent B-western.

I would recommend this one primarily to fans of the Hoppy films of the 1940's. Okay film, but not very memorable .......

James Ellison and Russell Hayden teamed up for a series of truly cheaply produced westerns for anemically budgeted studio Lippert Pictures. Both are known for being former sidekicks of Hopalong Cassidy back in their respective salad days.

Some truly bad editing butchered this film as Ellison tries to find the murderers of his parents from back when he was a kid. After saving sheriff Raymond Hatton's life, Hatton makes him a deputy as this same gang is operating in his jurisdiction.

Hayden is involved with the group as is his sister, but due to the bad editing I'm not sure how. The gang has a truly murderous plan involving using a Gatling gun on the whole town.

People like Ellison and Hayden because of the Hoppy connection have their following among western fans. For them this is recommended and not for too many others.