Secret of the Wastelands (1941)

Undescribable Perfection

Powerful

Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

An Exercise In Nonsense

SYNOPSIS: Hopalong Cassidy and his pals, Lucky Nelson and California, are engaged by a party of archeologists, to guide them to the ruins of a vanished civilization in the wastelands. The party is headed by Doctor Birdsall and his beautiful niece Jennifer. Jennifer, somewhat on the headstrong side, engages Doy Kee to act as cook for the expedition, against Hoppy's orders, and the expedition starts off. Two days out an "accident" causes the loss of the expedition's water supply. Hoppy advises Birdsall to turn back but the latter is determined to go on. (Available on an excellent Platinum Disc DVD).PARAMOUNT PUBLICITY: Secret of the Wastelands is notable for the fact that it serves to introduce to moviegoers, two new personalities: One is lovely Barbara Britton, a blonde 19-year-oldster who comes to the screen fresh from winning the title of Miss Long Beach in a recent beauty contest. The second is Brad King, a gent who, among other things, has some thirty-five or so rodeo championships to his credit. Besides being an excellent rider, King can sing and play the banjo. He was found in a Reno rodeo by Harry Sherman, producer of the "Hopalong" films. That Sherman knows how to pick 'em is one of the best-known facts about Hollywood. (The publicity flack is right about Miss Britton. Maybe he's right about Mr. King too - in which case all the 1941 Hoppy entries were released out of order).COMMENT: This is the one about the wasteland Shangri-La. A natural for Russell Harlan's fine location camerawork which is here seen to advantage, particularly a crossing-the-desert sequence. Some of the interior sets are attractive, but unfortunately there are a great many that consist of rather obvious back-drops. Fortunately, director Derwin Abrahams has above-average competence, and there is a fair amount of action, and even a little suspense.

This is a bit of a head scratcher Hopalong Cassidy Western for most of it's run time until things are tied up near the end of the story. Characters prefer to remain mysterious for a good part of the picture, and the payoff, as another reviewer correctly mentions, seems totally unrealistic. Quite honestly, did Hoppy and his pals have to be led through some Indian ruins, up and down rock walls and through a circumspect revolving door to come upon a serene looking 'Peaceful Valley'? Wouldn't it have been there if they simply rode their horses around the ruins to the other side? But I guess the intrigue and gun play that's standard for these horse operas was necessary to fashion an offbeat story. If you think about it though, the whole basis for the archaeological expedition Hoppy was leading eventually came to naught. You would think a scientist like Professor Balto Stubbs (Hal Price) would be able to tell the difference between a legitimate artifact and a thirty year old Buddha figure he found digging around in the ruins.While all this was going on, somehow a gold mine winds up at the center of the story, with an outlaw gang led by Slade Saulters (Douglas Fowley) trailing the expedition and keeping an eye on the Chinese immigrants. When the suspected gold mine actually pops up, Hoppy offers to take a claim that was already drafted ten years earlier (???) by the Chinese leader Moy Soong (Soo Yong), to the town of Paiute to file it. Cassidy cautions however, that once filed, the owners would have to pay back taxes on the land on which the mine was located. What? Is anyone following this? At least you had the usual hi-jinks for a Hoppy film bookending the story with California Carlson (Andy Clyde) running a 'hole in the coin trick' with a burly blacksmith. Unfortunately, Johnny Nelson's (Brad King) designs on pretty archaeologist Jennifer Kendall (Barbara Britton) come to naught. I think she might have smiled at him just once.My best takeaway from the picture though had to do with the 'La Luz Del Dia' Cantina in the town of Paiute. Translated, that's 'The Light of Day', and it would be, with cerveza going for ten cents. That's beer for a dime! - how do I get there?

This Hopalong Cassidy was one of the wilder films of the series. For one thing Hoppy and his pals are serving as expedition guides into the California desert for some archaeologists who want to prove that the Chinese settled here before Columbus or the Vikings arrived.This was a really stupid premise and these people of science which included a woman, the upcoming Barbara Britton, look like professors of the absent minded kind.Who's settled there was some Chinese people seeking refuge and headed by dragon lady type Soo Young. I guess Anna May Wong was unavailable. They do have however a goldmine that some villainous Occidentals want to steal. That's where Hoppy and his friends come in.One of the sillier Cassidy films.

Poor entry in the Hoppy series — seems out of place for a Hoppy film. Reminded me of Tarzan leading an expedition through sacred ruins to old Egyptian remains. It was confusing for most of the time. We didn't know —till the end— what the disparate groups wanted and how they knew so much about each other.**Spoilers*** There was the scientific expedition Hoppy was leading to old Indian ruins. There were Chinese who we later learn were interested in protecting their "Shangri La" community hidden in the desert, waiting to file legal claim to it. And there were American gunmen believing that there was a hidden gold mine in the Indian ruins that the Chinese were hiding. Added to that was the Sheriff and his posse wondering what to do.The mystery was confusing and boring. There was little action (gunplay). The sets at the ruins were phony looking. Mostly there was boring talking. I love Hoppy movies generally, but find it hard to take his comic sidekicks (California Carlson here). Hoppy's young romantic sidekick here was the worst of the lot (Brad King as Johnny Nelson); he was a stiff, uninteresting actor.