Sadly Over-hyped

Fresh and Exciting

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

I was sorta raised on Hopalong when I was a kid. I also remember Sky King, Paladin, Have Gun Will Travel, Roy Rogers, Sons of the Pioneers, Gabby Hayes, John Wayne, The Rebel ... I even had a Hopalong Cassidy bedspread. I definitely consider William Boyd to be a cut above the "average." The main complaint I have ... the Indians aren't portrayed very realistically, although in this movie, they're not the "bad guys" (except 1).

Copyright 16 April 1937 by Paramount Pictures, Inc. No New York opening. U.S. release: 16 April 1937. 7,062 feet. 78 minutes. SYNOPSIS Ranchers near the Indian reservation in Wyoming are suffering heavy losses because of cattle rustlers. Clues point to the Indians as the thieves. Hopalong Cassidy, who, with his pals, Windy and Mesquite "Lucky" Jenkins, has bought the Bar Three ranch in that territory, suspects Andrews, the government agent. NOTES: The Indian extras are Sioux. Film debut of Russell Hayden. COMMENT: The presence of real Indians does not add a great deal of luster to this routine Hopalong Cassidy entry. Alas, they are all rather amateurish actors. Uninspired direction by Nate Watt doesn't help, though it must be admitted that the script itself generates little excitement. We have not read Mulford's original 312-page novel, but surely it was not as bland, as colorless or as bereft of excitement as this pot-boiler. Still, Hills of Old Wyoming does boast one point of interest: former silent star Clara Kimball Young as the hearty storekeeper, Ma Hutchins. (An excellent Platinum Disc DVD). ANOTHER VIEW: Replacing James Ellison as Hoppy's sidekick, was Russell Hayden, with no previous screen experience, who stepped from behind the cameras where he had been a production member of Sherman's staff. Hayden first appeared in the new role of Lucky Jenkins in Hills of Old Wyoming (1937) and fitted right in with Boyd and Hayes, just as if he'd been there all along. This entry was a good one with the by-now customary scenic values, plus an original, if rather inappropriate and tinny, musical score.

Compared to most of the cowboy series films of the era, the Hopalong Cassidy movies are among the very best. He was no singing cowboy and the quality of the films are a tad better than the films of his contemporaries. Take "Hills of Old Wyoming" for example. While B westerns usually ran from 55-65 minutes and seem hurried, this one is 78 minutes and seems less slapped together than the others. This means the acting is better, the sets better and the story a bit more interesting. For the first 15 minutes, Windy (George Hayes) and Lucky (Russell Hayden) were tracking cattle thieves who were stealing from not just their Bar 3 Ranch but from their neighbors as well. The trail led to the nearby Indian reservation and a nasty agent, Chief Deputy Andrews (Morris Ankrum). But his boss was pretty blind to all this and actually managed to often HELP Andrews in his evil endeavors. So, it's up to Hoppy to come along and piece the mystery together. And, working with the Indians themselves, he finds the man who shoots bullets with a strange notch.I wouldn't call this brilliant compared to some of the A-pictures but for the series pictures, it's engaging and very well done. It also doesn't insult your intelligence or only appeal to the kids--a weakness with some of the other cowboys' pictures.

Hills Of Old Wyoming is significant in the Hopalong Cassidy series for introducing Russell Hayden as Lucky Jenkins as one of the two sidekicks for Bill Boyd. James Ellison who was the first young sidekick for Boyd quit the series and Hayden joined Gabby Hayes for the next few years with Boyd.The three of them are partners in a Bar 3 ranch in this film, not working for the Bar 20. Somebody's been systematically rustling small amounts of cattle from their ranch and others and the trail seems to stop at an Indian reservation of an unnamed tribe in the film. Russell Hayden's Lucky Jenkins was always an impetuous lad who constantly charged into situations and got himself in trouble that Hoppy would have to get him out of. That aspect is introduced in Hills Of Old Wyoming when Hayden and Hayes go onto the reservation and start 'questioning' the Indians. Of course they've got no legal right to and they get arrested by the reservation police and Hoppy has to rescue them.But we've got a real legal conundrum here in that it's the reservation police doing the rustling and making a fool out of Indian agent Earl Hodgins and the two women who run the trading post Clara Kimball Young and Gail Sheridan. Of course when Sheridan's around, Hayden doesn't concentrate on much of anything else. That's another aspect of Lucky Jenkins that is introduced here.Other than introducing Russell Hayden to the series, Hills Of Old Wyoming is your average Hoppy feature of no particular other significance. Still the fans of the series will like it and so will others.