Twilight on the Trail (1941)

Excellent but underrated film

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Blistering performances.

NOTES: Paramount and Zinman agree: This is number 41 of the 66-picture series. Locations in the Cisco Range.Gentlemen, in general, may prefer blondes - but there's one who doesn't. He's Harry "Pop" Sherman, producer of the popular Hopalong Cassidy films of the wild west. "Every time we've used a blonde for the feminine lead in a picture," Sherman said, "we've slam banged right into trouble." For some strange reason, the fans do not like blonde actresses in Western dramas and send in a flood of complaints every time one appears. Equally strange is the fact that they do not object to blonde men. William Boyd, who has been starred in 41 "Hoppy" films, has never elicited a single protest - and he is so blonde that his hair appears almost white on the screen. (Paramount publicity actually got this one right!)COMMENT: Hopalong Cassidy and his sidekicks impersonate dude Eastern detectives in this yarn, which Boyd plays for laughs rather than thrills. In fact, at the height of the climactic fisticuffs, the camera focuses on Clyde, not Boyd. Directed at a leisurely pace by Howard Bretherton. Co-scriptwriter Ellen Corby is the famous character actress.

This was the first time in about twenty Hopalong Cassidy flicks that I've run across Brad King as one of Hoppy's sidekick pals. He makes up the good guy trio along with Andy Clyde in his usual role of California Carlson, though the Carlson tag isn't used here. There's probably a good reason King didn't appear as frequently as Russell Hayden or Rand Brooks, the guy just didn't have too much personality. Not a good thing if you're going to be the handsome looking cowboy going after the female lead, in this case Wanda McKay as Miss Lucy Brent. He does get to sing with the Jimmy Wakely Trio as part of a consolation prize though. He sounded decent enough.Hoppy fans might groan a bit when this one starts out, as he and his pals arrive on scene dressed as British detectives, called in by rancher friend Jim Brent (Jack Rockwell) to investigate some cattle rustling. Oddly, it's Andy Clyde who fits the part best with his deerstalker cap, meerschaum pipe and magnifying glass a la Sherlock Holmes. Their attempts at a British accent provide first half comedy relief, until the bad guys blow their cover in a customary shootout. With that, the boys shed their English duds and go full blown Western cowboy.The one interesting element brought into play in this picture is something I don't think I've seen before. The cattle rustlers, led by Nat Kervy (Norman Willis), employ a tricked out cabin that hides a tunnel into the outlaw hideout. There's a brief scare when Hoppy and California get captured by the bad guys, but if you've seen enough of these films, you know it won't be for long. The Bar-20 heroes make the save for Jim Brent, and the picture closes on a lighthearted note when California's magnifying glass discovers a huge, armed and dangerous horned lizard. It fit in the palm of Hoppy's hand!

Listen I was a Hoppy fan as soon as I could get into the Saturday matinées, somewhere around five. Nothing but free range parenting when I was a kid. We had watched the Sherlock Holmes TV shows with Ronald Howard and Howard Marion-Crawford as the sleuth and his able aide, so we had maybe an idea of an English accent but not much. But we would have been falling out of our seats watching Hoppy, California, and Lucky passing themselves off as English detectives who couldn't handle a gun, ride a horse, or play cards. We knew what was coming. Hoppy and his pals were pulling the wool over the bad guys and would they be surprised to find out the English dandies—taa, taa; cheerio, old boy—were actually Hopalong Cassidy and his pals. And when the revelation came, we cheered and hooted and laughed at the stupid bad guys. This picture was prime horse opera. It would have been perfect if they had dropped the singing. Whoever thought boys between five and twelve liked singing cowboys? That was almost as bad as the good guy kissing the girl—mush, ugh. The relationships that counted were being with your pals and riding a smart horse. In this film, we worried a bit when a secret search of Hoppy's suitcase revealed he and the boys were rangers. We knew there would be an attempt to bushwhack the guys. And there was; but it failed, but then Hoppy and the boys could drop the "monkey suits" and wear their real clothes and let the rustlers know who they really had on their trail. It didn't take long then for Hoppy to find the entrance to the faux cabin and tunnel the rustlers were using. And here you thought that idea was new to the Fast and the Furious franchise. It looks bad as the bad guys get the drop on Hoppy and California, but they escape to help save the day. Those rustlers never had a chance. And another satisfying end to a good Hoppy film. Now start the Batman serial.

This Hoppy film starts off a bit slow. An old friend calls on the Bar 20 trio to help stop cattle rustling. Hoppy and pals show up disguised as dude detectives from back East but that doesn't last long. Once the outlaws realize this group can shoot straight and ride like the wind, its all over. Its typical Hoppy fare as good prevails over evil.