Heart of Arizona

Seeing that there were few A-westerns in the 30s until the explosion of 1939, I have watched a few B-westerns of that time to see what they were like. This one I chose as representative of the Hopalong Cassidy film series. There were 66 of these films. Just in 1938, seven of them were filmed. When B-westerns phased out in the late 40s, the star William Boyd bought the rights and the films were again successful on TV, spawning a TV show. Hoppy was sure a household name at that time in the US.

So what's the film like? Well, while still clearly being a B-western, it has better production values than most, with gorgeous scenery. This one is 68 minutes long, slightly longer than the typical B-western.

The story is straightforward and filled with action, as expected of these films. There's a lot of shooting. Almost every character got shot at some point. It does get a bit convoluted at the end, but not much. Hoppy is not on screen all the time, but relies on his supporting cast to drive the story forward, unlike other B-western stars of the time.

Not great drama, but a sure way to keep the kids happy at the theater with some cowboy action, while they waited for the main part of the double feature.