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Sunset Trail
USA 1939
produced by Harry Sherman for Paramount
directed by Lesley Selander
starring William Boyd, George Hayes (= Gabby Hayes), Russell Hayden, Charlotte Wynters, Jan Clayton, Robert Fiske, Kenneth Harlan, Anthony Nance, Kathryn Sheldon, Majurice Cass, Alphonse Ethier, Glenn Strange, Claudia Smith, Fred Burns, Tom London, Jack Rockwell, Charles Murphy, Ralph Bucko, Roy Bucko, Bob Woodward
screenplay by Norman Houston, based on characters by Clarence E. Mulford, music by Gerard Carbonara, musical director: Ed Paul
Hopalong Cassidy
review by Mike Haberfelner
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John Marsh (Kenneth Harlan) wants to bring the tidy bit of money he
made from his latest cattle deal to the bank in the big city, but on the
way there, his stage is held up, he is robbed of his money, and is shot
dead - which leaves his wife Anne (Charlotte Wynters) and his daughter
Dorrie (Jan Clayton) with some good farmland but no cattle and no money to
buy it. But Anne has the solution - why not turn her farm into a dude
ranch (= a Western themed holiday resort). Local gambler Monte Keller
(Robert Fiske) however wants a part of the action at any cost, and it soon
becomes apparent that he might have had his hands in murdering Anne's
husband, though there is no hard evidence ... so eventually Hopalong
Cassidy is called in to investigate, but disguised as the greenest of
greenhorns, who falls off his horse, can't handle a gun and regularly
loses at gambling, he seems an unlikely candidate to find out anything at
all - which makes it all the easier for him to collect evidence against
Keller.
Everything culminates in a game of stud poker in which Cassidy proves
he is quite handy with cards, and he releaves Keller of pretty much all of
his fortune, but the end the two men fight it out the violent way and
ultimately Cassidy has to shoot Keller in self defense, but not without
having proven his guilt beyond any doubt ...
Gabby Hayes and Russell Hayden can be seen in their customary roles as
Hoppie's sidekicks Windy and Lucky, respectively.
Ok series Western with a few comical highlights featuring William Boyd
pretending to be a greenhorn - however he is not comedian enough to pull it off
over a longer stretch of time so before long the greenhorn scenes become a
bit tedious. Still, the film is a routine and entertaining B-Western,
nothing special but not bad either.
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