Three Men from Texas

This is the film that introduced the character of California Carlson to the team as the new comic sidekick, played by Scottish born Andy Clyde, and I must say, with all due respects to the great Gabby Hayes, Andy Clyde was my favourite of Hoppy's comedy cohorts, William Boyd must have liked him too because he remained for the rest of the feature film series! Boyd was a great actor, something he had over most of the other B western cowboys and he could often put a lot of feeling and emotion into some of his scenes, giving the Hopalong films a lot more credibility! This is a decent entry in the series with a couple of sad scenes as well as a couple that may shock? After a few more films the excellent Russell Hayden left to pursue his own career. Hopalong Cassidy was always good value for money!

This Hoppalong Cassidy (William Boyd) film is well made and extremely typical of the genre. And, like most of the B-westerns I've enjoyed, it's not mired down with a lot of unnecessary and silly songs.

The film begins with authorities in California begging the Texas governor to send a crack Ranger to their state to help them restore law and order. Surprisingly, Hoppy isn't interested in the job but his young friend Lucky does the job instead. Soon, however, Hoppy is pulled into California. And, he brings along a new sidekick--aptly named California. Together with Lucky, the trio work on restoring justice. And, as if VERY typical of the genre. there's a baddie who has a large group of hired guns who's intent on stealing the land of all the little guys.

About the only unusual aspect of the film is that it's surprisingly violent for a B-western. As for the acting, Cassidy seems quite natural and the film is enjoyable throughout. Not a must-see but a decent little time-passer.

Hoppy was always my favorite western hero and all of his films were a cut above the Autry-Rogers films, which were fun but which I regard as more juvenile. Hoppy is an older, wiser, more cynical guy who sees through people pretty quickly. The stories always tried to be more serious as well, while maintaining some humor and excitement. This is one of my two favorite Hoppy films, the other being "The Eagle's Brood." They were clearly not intended for children and contain some disturbing, but realistic scenes and fleshed-out characters. I'm sorry that the IMDB synopsis basically tells you the entire story in detail and is thus full of spoilers, even though IMDB are sticklers for labeling spoilers. The story involves Hoppy being called to California to help put down a gang of thugs and land thieves. Among the more realistic elements is the outright theft of land from original Mexican owners by whites in California, something way ahead of its time. Andy Clyde joins the series as California Carlson and fits in perfectly. He provides comic relief but also comes through in the end at Hoppy's side. See the movie yourself and I think you'll agree it is far more like an A picture than a routine B western. It's Hoppy and his friends at their best, taking risks to help other people.

This 31st entry of the 66 films in the Hopalong Cassidy series marks the first of 35 consecutive appearances, in the remaining films of the series, of Scottish-born comedian Andy Clyde in the role of "California Carlson", although his introduction in this film is as "California Jack" Carlson and his credentials won't bear much scrutiny. The film finds local officers in an outlaw-infested town in California helpless to cope with the situation and a citizens committee comes to Texas and appeals to the Texas Rangers for help in organizing the forces of law and order.

Captain Andrews of the Rangers offers the assignment to Hopalong Cassidy and Lucky Jenkins, but Cassidy, whose period of service in the Rangers is almost over, refuses. The as-usual impetuous Lucky takes the job alone. W

While on patrol duty, Cassidy is following the trail of a large herd of rustled horses and discovers the hide-out of the Bruce Morgan gang.

Fun B picture stuff. You cant go wrong. But can you go right?

Although William Boyd's Hopalong Cassidy is a more mature cowboy then Roy Rogers or Gene Autry, this one is darker than usual. There's still the same humor (provided this time by Andy Clyde) as always, but the humor is much more somber than usual.

There are fewer fight scenes then some, but the fight scenes are extremely well-done for a B-western. This is also one of the longest of the Hopalong movies.

The reason I love this movie so much is because it is of refreshingly hight quality, the characters are consistent and 3-dimensional (unlike many B-westerns), and the story is unusually good. Just goes to show why Hopalong Cassidy is one of the best cowboy movie heroes there is.