In Old Colorado (1941) User Reviews

Hoppy To the Rescue!

[bsmith5552 · 7/10 · 28 December 2003]

"In Old California" is from the seventh year of the popular series which began in 1935. The story centers on a conflict between rancher George Davidson (Stanley Andrews) and the "nesters" led by the widow Ma Woods (Sara Padden). It seems that poor old Ma has a loan coming due and Davidson is trying to ensure that she cannot repay it so that he can drive out the nesters whom he believes are rustling his cattle.

Ma contacts the Bar 20 in Arizona whose owner Buck Peters agrees to buy her cattle in order for her to get the cash in time to pay off her debt. Bar 20 foreman Hopalong Cassidy (William Boyd) and his two sidekicks Lucky Jenkins (Russell Hayden) and California (Andy Clyde) are sent to Colorado to look the cattle over. Along the way they are robbed of $20K in cash by unknown assailants. Rancher Davidson is made to appear to be behind the robbery.

Hoppy is sure that someone other than Davidson is behind all of the trouble. He manages to effect a reconciliation between Ma Woods and Davidson before discovering the identity of the real bandits. In a slam bang shoot out involving almost every member of the cast, Hoppy and the boys finally bring the bad guys to justice.

The Hoppy series produced by Harry "Pop" Sherman is arguably the best "B" western series ever made. Its production values were miles above any other and they always had the look and feel of more expensive "A" features. This film is no exception. The beautiful outdoor location photography is exceptional for a "B" product.

Also in the cast are Margaret Hayes as Ma Woods' daughter Myra, the love interest of Lucky, perennial Hoppy villain Morris Ankrum as Davidson's foreman and James Seay, Eddy Waller and Philip Van Zandt in other roles.

William Boyd had been a silent film matinee idol in films directed by Cecil B. DeMille in the 20s. Andy Clyde's career dated back to the early silent Mack Sennett comedies in which he was one of the Keystone Cops. Russell Hayden would soon leave the series to branch out into his own features. Morris Ankrum has appeared under the name of Stephen Morris in some of the early entries in the series.

Pacing is good anyway!

[JohnHowardReid · 6/10 · 7 February 2018]

In Old Colorado. Paramount, released 14 March 1941. Directed by Howard Bretherton.

Cast: William Boyd, Russell Hayden, Andy Clyde, Margaret Hayes, Morris Ankrum, Sarah Padden, Cliff Nazarro, Stanley Andrews, James Seay, Morgan Wallace, Weldon Heyburn, Glenn Strange, Eddy Waller, Philip Van Zandt. 67 minutes.

Available on an excellent Platinum Disc DVD, this is an agreeably action-packed, well-written rancher (Andrews) and foreman (Ankrum) versus nesters (Padden and Hayes) outing against magnificent scenery that takes in plenty of gunplay, despite the out-of-place presence of double-talking Cliff Nazarro.

On the other hand, Cliff's stupidity enables Andy Clyde to betray more sense than usual (he even outwits Phil Van Zandt's shell game chiseler) and - yet more surprising - take a plausible hand in the action. Margaret Hayes makes a fetching heroine. Hayden can do little with his role, but the part is so small, it doesn't really matter. Hoppy himself comes across in top Bill Boyd form, while H. Bretherton not only contrives an atmospheric use of his impressive outdoor locations but paces the movie along at an admirably fast clip.

"Well you could ride my way any time you please!"

[classicsoncall · 6/10 · 21 December 2014]

I can't tell you how long it's been since I've seen a Hopalong Cassidy flick, but if I had to take a stab at it, I would probably have been about ten years old, so that's going back some fifty plus years! So wouldn't you know it, the way this one starts out left me just a little baffled. The set up has a cattle rancher who's fenced off his property against the encroachment of a 'nester' who believes in free range access to land and water rights. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but in every other Western I've seen with this scenario it's been just the opposite. It's the nester who's a latecomer to the party who tries to establish their right to farm or ranch a claim peacefully. So did the film makers get it backwards? Probably not important.

Well anyway, it's cool to see Hoppy, Lucky Jenkins (Russell Hayden) and California (Andy Clyde) teamed up again for a passel of Western adventure. Hoppy and his pals are on the way to Lost River Junction with twenty thousand dollars in cash to buy Ma Woods' (Sarah Padden) cattle, a last ditch effort to make sure she's not foreclosed on at the insistence of rancher George Davidson (Stanley Andrews). Davidson had sheriff Collins (Morgan Wallace) do the dirty work, who voices his displeasure by saying "I'm willing to lay odds Davidson, that you shed your skin once a year, just like all the snakes". Quite the colorful description I thought.

A monkey wrench is thrown Hoppy's way when he's held up for the twenty grand, so now the boys try to do a little undercover work to track down the outlaws who robbed them. Their cover is blown pretty quickly by Davidson, but in the aftermath, Hoppy comes to the conclusion that there must be a third party instigating the rivalry between Davidson and Ma Woods. Ma wouldn't have had someone rob Hoppy's crew if she was getting paid for her cattle anyway, and Davidson had earlier offered to sell his cattle to Cassidy for less money to undercut his rival. Getting the warring parties to make peace, Hoppy sets out to uncover who the troublemaker really is.

Andy Clyde can usually be relied on for comic relief in any picture he appears in, but this story offered another as well. I got a kick out of Cliff Nazarro's double talk routine as the Woods cook Nosey Haskins. You know, to do it right requires a real talent and this guy's a master. Most everyone simply nods their head in agreement when he speaks but there's no way you could know what he's talking about. I think modern day politicians probably studied this guy.

Hey, did you catch that cattle stampede scene when Myra Woods (Margaret Hayes) fell off her horse? The saddle went with her - what's up with that? You know, the first time she showed up in the story, I'd have to say she filled out her dress better than any B Western cowgirl I'd ever seen. No wonder Lucky went gaga over the lady.

Well it took some doin', but Hoppy and the boys finally put away Davidson henchman Joe Weiler (Morris Ankrum) to close out the mystery of the third party instigator. I had to chuckle because in virtually every story like this where a large stash of money is stolen, the bad guy who took it is running around the countryside with the loot on him. Don't they know you could lose it that way?

Vintage Hoppy.

[Mozjoukine · 2 May 2011]

IN OLD Colorado has all the qualities and a few of the faults of this series, which brightened the lives of a generation of little boys (and a few girls). More than half a century later, nostalgia and recognition of the exactness of the approach both make this one rewarding.

To start with there's Boyd's painstakingly idealized lead, riding, shooting and attitudinizing. Some of Russel Harlan's most striking mountains photography backs the action, which includes a smallish herd of cattle getting pounds run off them in stampedes in swirling dust. Hayes proves one of the spunkiest of the heroines, actually filmed close to the action, as the herd sweeps by, and managing to take down the bad hat with a rifle shot. The best of the lead trios show up, with Clyde's California allowed to eliminate a look out with a comic routine, after being left holding the horses, and Heyden's Lucky backing off when one of those young women, who seem to prefer Hoppy, actually shows an interest in settling down with him. Bretherton, who did the first of the series, organises things efficiently. The balance between action and basic plot is just right and the comedy is even occasionally funny.

Against this is s certain simple mindedness. The cowboys sleep in full western gear. Hoppy manages to reconcile the Nesters and the Rancher and penetrate a dastardly plot with a couple of unconvincing lines of dialogue. Buck Jones and Tim Holt used to ride through something closer to the real world - but what the heck!

Diplomacy as well as guns

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 19 July 2014]

In Old Colorado finds Hopalong Cassidy along with Russell Hayden and Andy Clyde come up from Arizona on a cattle buying deal from the Bar 20. An old friend of Bar 20 foreman Buck Peters needs to sell her cattle because Sarah Padden and her granddaughter Margaret Hayes can't get them to water. They're locked in a bitter dispute with Stanley Andrews who owns the local Ponderosa and controls the water rights. And he ain't about to let no homesteaders have any. Homesteaders by his definition is late arrivals to the territory be they cattlemen or farmers.

Padden leads the homesteaders and she's in a bitter dispute with Andrews. But Morris Ankrum of her crowd is looking to get everyone killed and take over. It takes diplomacy to settle this one and Bill Boyd has plenty of both.

The romance department in the Hopalong Cassidy series was always left to the young sidekick. Russell Hayden gets a bit serious with Margaret Hayes who would go on to have a good career as usually a second string leading lady.

Hoppy fans will go for this one.

Someone is stoking the fires in a range war.

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 29 September 2020]

The version of "In Old Colorado" that I watched was the recently restored version, not the chopped up for TV version made in the 1950s. Fortunately, most of the old Hopalong Cassidy films were restored and posted to YouTube recently...and they make dandy viewing.

When the story begins, two adjacent ranches are fighting over water. Well, this isn't an unusual topic for a B-western AND in most cases I've seen, an unseen third party is manipulating things for their own ends. Why and who...well that waits to be seen.

As for Hopalong and his friends, they weren't involved with this ruckus at first. But when one of the warring sides decides to just sell off their cattle, this means Cassidy and his two friends will be arriving soon with cash to buy them for the Bar 20. But because some evil piggy is trying to stir things up, Hoppy is jumped by several fellows and the money stolen! Now Hopalong and his pals have a stake in this mess...and they, of course, will investigate and punish the guilty...as usual.

"In Old Colorado" is a very good...but also very predictable movie. Part of it is because one of the baddies is someone you see early in the film and he ALWAYS plays baddies in the Hopalong Cassidy films!!

Very chancy solving of the plot by Cassidy

[chipe · 5/10 · 14 February 2015]

I hate to complain. I actually like the Hoppy films a lot, mainly for William Boyd's appealing personality and acting, the good production values, and the fine outdoor location scenery. I'll make two complaints, though. One, I find the comic sidekicks (other than Gabby Hayes) grating. Here, California Carlson got on nerves with his never-ending chatter. Same goes for the double talk routine of the cook. The other thing that bothers me is the slender, chancy, coincidental thin reeds of the mystery-solving. In this movie, there are two main forces arrayed against each other, each accusing the other of rustling their cattle and other misdeeds. Hoppy, for some good reasons, thinks a third party is guilty. And he thinks, for no real good reason, a member of that party is an insider at Ma Woods ranch. Ma Woods had blabbed all over town that Cassidy was coming with money to buy her cattle so anyone could have heard of this. Then, the first night Cassidy spends at Ma's ranch, one of the bad guys happens to sneak out in the middle of the night, and Hoppy decides to follow him. To me it seems difficult to follow a horseman over wide open plains and not be detected. Likewise, to me it seems impossible for Hoppy and friend to scale a mountainous peak to subdue a lookout, and the lookout does not hear or see the guys. And so it goes.

Rocky Wonderland On Top Of Interesting Plot

[dougdoepke · 14 May 2023]

So which rancher should have watering hole priorities for his cattle herd on an open range. Should it be the rancher whose herd stays closest to the hole (Davidson) or those herds who simply need the water (Ma Woods). That's the main plot point, namely a struggle between those wanting an "open range" and those wanting a "closed" one. Also, note how the storyline finesses the problem. Then too, It's a tricky problem reflecting the modern issue of balancing private property with community needs.

Anyhow, it's a spectacular Hoppy western. Those scenic Alabama Hills with their jutting hard rock spires are beautifully photographed in color. No wonder the hour uses them as a backdrop for all the hard riding that may not always make plot sense, but with all the spectacle who cares. Then too, it's hard at first to make out who the bad guy is, an unusual aspect for a matinee oater, but stay tuned.

All in all, Hoppy and his sidekicks don't get their ususal screentime, having to compete with the heavy plot and scenic Hills, but still remain their entertaining selves, especially with Hoppy's occasional happy guffaw. However, don't let Andy hook you into betting which pod is hiding the hidden pea, even though he can't seem to get his goofy scam right.

Anyhow, be sure to catch what may be Hoppy's most scenic action flick. So ride-em, cowboy, into those wonderland Hills.