Three Men from Texas (1940)

Fantastic!

Brilliant and touching

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

This 31st entry of the 66 films in the Hopalong Cassidy series marks the first of 35 consecutive appearances, in the remaining films of the series, of Scottish-born comedian Andy Clyde in the role of "California Carlson", although his introduction in this film is as "California Jack" Carlson and his credentials won't bear much scrutiny. The film finds local officers in an outlaw-infested town in California helpless to cope with the situation and a citizens committee comes to Texas and appeals to the Texas Rangers for help in organizing the forces of law and order. Captain Andrews of the Rangers offers the assignment to Hopalong Cassidy and Lucky Jenkins, but Cassidy, whose period of service in the Rangers is almost over, refuses. The as-usual impetuous Lucky takes the job alone. WWhile on patrol duty, Cassidy is following the trail of a large herd of rustled horses and discovers the hide-out of the Bruce Morgan gang. Fun B picture stuff. You cant go wrong. But can you go right?

Well actually this film should be called Two Men From Texas because one of them is from California. For the rest of the Hopalong Cassidy feature film series Andy Clyde became William Boyd's third Mesquiteer sidekick as California Carlson and of course that's where he's from though he embellishes quite a bit his accomplishments.In fact Hoppy's first encounter with California has him as the cook for an outlaw gang. He first arrests him and then decides that he's harmless and is even a good material witness to a pair of outlaws whom he really wants played by western heavies Glenn Strange and Dick Curtis.Those two have fled to California where Hoppy's other sidekick Russell Hayden has been on loan from the Texas Rangers trying to clean up a gang headed by claim jumping Morris Ankrum. He's been dispossessing a lot of the residents off the Spanish land grants they hold title to. Of course all the bad guys fight all the good guys in the inevitable climax.Three Men From Texas is quite a bit bloodier in the climax than the normal run of Hopalong Cassidy films. A woman is shot and killed earlier, the love interest for Hayden and then later her father and Ankrum have a fight to the death of both. I'm surprised Paramount didn't soften this for their kid audience.Still it's a Cassidy feature that holds up well for today.

All those Hopalong Cassidy films! And the only ways anyone can ever see them in the UK is if they buy imported DVD's or download off the internet, because they're never on TV. This is mainly because these type of Hollywood b Westerns are considered derisory by the suits – I got news for them: it's current TV programming that is derisory, no one will watch any of it in 70 years time like HC still is.Be warned: the IMDb plot summary gives out the entire story, but basically after receiving a call for help from California Texas Rangers Hoppy & Lucky are up against a tough gang of land grabbers. To the background sound of clinking spurs we're treated as usual to plenty of chases, wonderful scenery, gunfights, a brief romance for Lucky, a neck-tie party, comedy this time coming from Andy Clyde joining the team. William Boyd and Russell Haydon put in their usual good performances as the unflappable Cassidy and young sidekick Lucky. Favourite bit: California winging one of the baddies, then shooting him dead. Hoppy reproaches in jest "You ought to be ashamed of yourself shooting at a cripple" – "I was only trying to be humane" – swift justice indeed!I think I've probably seen about a bar-20 of these films but it looks par for the course, a well made programmer with so-so acting and plot but mainly for the kids and people like me. Don't bother if you're a serious type.

Although William Boyd's Hopalong Cassidy is a more mature cowboy then Roy Rogers or Gene Autry, this one is darker than usual. There's still the same humor (provided this time by Andy Clyde) as always, but the humor is much more somber than usual.There are fewer fight scenes then some, but the fight scenes are extremely well-done for a B-western. This is also one of the longest of the Hopalong movies.The reason I love this movie so much is because it is of refreshingly hight quality, the characters are consistent and 3-dimensional (unlike many B-westerns), and the story is unusually good. Just goes to show why Hopalong Cassidy is one of the best cowboy movie heroes there is.