Lumberjack

This is one of the better Hopalong Cassidy movies. The plot, concerning the usual unscrupulous varmints, is served well by the lumber industry setting. Not your usual plot for a B-movie Western. Also contains better-than-average dialogue for the genre, plus the usual action scenes.

Lumberjack starts with the killing of a newlywed husband on his wedding day minutes after exchanging vows with Ellen Hall who is niece of Buck Peters played by Herbert Rawlinson foreman of the Bar 20 ranch. And Rawlinson saw the one of the killers. Hopalong Cassidy gave chase and got the other one.

The bad guys who are Douglass Dumbrille, Hal Taliaferro, and Francis McDonald are a real trio of bottom feeders who had hoped to acquire this land at public auction. The fact that Hall is now the heir spoils their plans. The other thing was doing their evil deed to someone acquainted with Hopalong Cassidy. That brings Bill Boyd and sidekicks in to straighten the situation which they inevitably do.

The land Hall has is rich in timber and that's why these guys want it so bad. Hoppy becomes her logging foreman in order to save the day.

Andy Clyde as California Carlson get a little romance himself in this film with Ethel Wales who is Rawlinson's sister and Hall's aunt. A lot of the situations here are pretty funny, especially when parson Earl Hodgins almost marries the two.

Lots of good action in Lumberjack in an unusual setting for a western.

Although Hoppy wears a plaid shirt & a white hat (usually a sign of a lesser Hoppy movie, as opposed to his wearing an all black outfit), there's quite a bit to like in this film. It's filmed in the "High Sierras" per the credits, & redwood trees are seen (does anyone out there know if redwoods are indeed found in the High Sierras?). There are lots of good fight scenes with Hoppy & California as participants. Maybe the best part of the film is that Jimmy Rogers (my least favorite of Hoppy's young sidekicks) is sent on a mission to get Buck Peters, & thankfully is absent for 10+ minutes of film! Unusual for a Hopalong Cassidy movie, California is actually very helpful in three situations. William Boyd (apparently without stunt double) is active in fights, running, riding hard, & climbing down a fifty foot log wall (this with cuts, of course). The ending matches a standard serial thriller for excitement & lack of realism! Despite all these interesting aspects, the film falls short of a real good western, & lacks the good humor that Hoppy films were known for. I rate it 6/10.

Julie's husband has been murdered and land agents want her to sign away her property rights. Hoppy warns against this but she does so anyway. It looks as though she will be unable to deliver the timber called for in her agreement. Hoppy has to make the lumber deal happened and solve the murder.

I like timberjack westerns and here, a Hopalong Cassidy western, is a good example of the genre, and the usual scheming villains and their murderous henchman. Consequently you get an entertaining entry with good scenery and rousing action, especially at the end.

In the 1930s, 40s and 50s, Hollywood made thousands of B-westerns. And, if you've watched a few, you probably noticed several plots that keep repeating themselves. One of the most familiar, if not THE most familiar, is the baddie who is intent on owning EVERYTHING....and they use thugs to insure that the locals just give up and he takes their land. This is the plot for "Lumberjack"!

When the story begins, Hopalong Cassidy (William Boyd) and his sidekick (Andy Clyde) arrive in town...just in time to see the local baddie (Douglas Dumbrille...who ALWAYS played a baddie) trying to take control of the local lumber industry. However, a plucky woman (and they're nearly always plucky in these films) insists she can make a go of the lumber industry. Naturally, along the way, the baddie has his agents do everything they can to make the business fail. Ultimately, when this fails, they use deadly force. Can Hoppy and the good guys stop this threat to truth, justice and the American way?

Aside from being about lumber instead of cattle or range land, the film is a by the books story from start to finish. Nothing special here. Watchable and a bit better made than some, as the Hopalong Cassidy films were generally pretty good compared to some of the cheaper competition. Still, no surprises at all in this one.