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Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

A Paramount Picture, relased 23 May 1941. Director: Lesley Selander. Players include William Boyd, Russell Hayden, Andy Clyde, Eleanor Stewart, Morris Ankrum, William Haade, Dennis Moore, Henry Hall, Britt Wood. 69 minutes. (Available on an excellent Platinum Disc DVD). This one starts off with a bang, but unfortunately that initial promise is slowly whittled away when Hoppy and his comrades make their belated entrance. True, it still has its moments (thanks mostly to villainous Morris Ankrum and the lovely Eleanor Stewart), and its real locations are superbly photographed. Unfortunately scriptwriters Ethel La Blanche and J. Benton Cheney obviously decided to pander to the Saturday matinee audience by making our genial Hoppy helpful enough, but rather slow on the uptake. A ten-year-old could work out the clue to the gold mine right from the very moment it's presented. On the other hand, it takes the slow-witted Hoppy almost the entire movie - and even then he achieves the solution only by accident. Naturally, Russell Hayden is too bewitched by Eleanor to be of much help (we don't blame him!), while garrulous Andy Clyde of course is both too stupid and too self-absorbed.

Britt Wood who was a sidekick of Hopalong Cassidy for a few films makes a return to the series in Pirates On Horseback. But it's only a brief return as Wood is killed for the location of his hidden gold mine.The location of which is something that Eleanor Stewart his niece would also like to know. The only clue is a cryptic message left by Wood that Hoppy, Johnny, and California have a time getting a hold of.Sad to say for our cowboy hero he and the sidekicks have to tell a white lie to get dealt in on this game. Andy Clyd pretends he's a relative. When they're caught at it by the real villain, smooth gambler Morris Ankrum it's almost the end.The cryptic clue is something along the lines that both Glenn Ford and William Prince were trying to decipher in Lust For Gold. Let's say Hoppy had better success.Hoppy fans will like this.

The Hopalong Cassidy movies and television show are fond childhood memories. This is the first Hoppy movie I have seen in more than five decades. While I certainly hope I watch B Westerns with a different eye than I did when a child, I still enjoy them and this one was superb. Hoppy's comic sidekick, California (Clyde) receives word that his distant cousin, a prospector named Ben, has been murdered. Ben had recently struck gold at the El Dorado mine and unfortunately talked about it in the saloon. Ankrum wonderfully plays the cold and vicious gang leader Ace Gibson whose henchmen murder Ben. The ambush of Ben at his cabin is a gripping scene worthy of being in an A Western. Hoppy, California and Lucky (Russell Hayden) head out to Rim Rock to find Ben's mine. Upon arriving at the cabin, they find Ben's niece Trudy (Eleanor Stewart) already there. Pretending to be an old friend of Ben's, Ace has befriended Trudy and later turns her against Hoppy, California and Lucky. Unraveling a cryptic clue Ben left, the three do discover the mine. I much enjoyed the comic moments, particularly the scene where Hoppy and California tease Lucky over his falling so quickly for Trudy. I know Ankrum often played the bad guy in Westerns but every time I see him, I think of his role as a judge on the Perry Mason television show. At any rate, this is a superior oater whose only flaw for me is the ending, which makes no sense in terms of any succeeding Hoppy films.

Aces all around except for the rather tame climax. Credit producer Harry Sherman for the general superiority of the Hoppy matinees. Here, he pops for scenic Lone Pine locations, expertly filmed by Harry Stradling— hard to beat that desert-mountain-big rock combination. Hoppy and the boys are trying to find a lost gold mine before the baddies led by the sneaky Ace Gibson (Ankrum) do. Note the movie's many extra touches—the well-staffed barroom, the busy street, the detailed shack interior. These show attention to background unusual for programmers. Also, catch that expensive line of gold-rushers heading for the mine, though the scene appears shot in the cost-saving LA area.For me, the scariest part is when the oily Ace looks like he's getting romantic with the winsome heroine (Stewart). Now, in his stellar career, the lordly Ankrum defeated A-bomb mutants, aliens from outer space, commanded armies, advised presidents, and also made a convincing baddie. But for some reason, the thought of his snuggling up to the girl ran a shudder right through me.Hard to say enough about Bill Boyd in his Hoppy role. He's easily the most charming and affable of the matinée heroes, but can also do the hard-eyed stare when necessary-- as he does here. He, Clyde, and Hayden make a winning team, as their amusing fireside byplay shows. Anyway, there's enough hard- riding, straight-shooting, and story interest to make this a generally superior Hoppy entry.