User reviews

The entire style of "The Frontiersmen" is very different from the other Hopalong Cassidy films I've seen. In nearly most, Hoppy shows no interest in women at all....and the romancing is usually left to other characters, like Johnny or Lucky...if there's any at all. Additionally, his films generally are about fighting, shooting and cattle rustlers...but the focus of this one is more domestic.

The story begins with Artie (Dickie Jones) acting like a total brat on the Peters ranch. He is an even bigger brat at school and he is beyond just a brat! In fact, Hoppy (Cassidy) and Windy (Gabby Hayes) are called to school to rescue the teacher...who the students have taken prisoner!! Artie and the other kids are going to be tough for the next teacher, as the nasty old prune who was taken prisoner quits after Hoppy frees her! Because Hoppy and Windy were busy with this, a local rustler and his gang are able to attack the Peters ranch and run off with many of their cattle....and he can't keep taking time off work to intervene between Artie and his teachers!

Fortunately for Artie and the other kids, the mayor's choice to become the next school teacher is not sent to the town. Instead of a mean man to intimidate the brats, they send a very pretty young teacher (Evelyn Venable) from back east. And, instantly everyone seems smitten by her...the kids AND adults alike. And, as usual, Hoppy is aloof and avoids romance with her...even though she clearly is interested. So how do the two plots converge? Watch the movie!

Seeing Dickie Jones in any western isn't all that unusual. This young boy could ride horses and act and was very popular in B-westerns as well as TV westerns. He was a regular in many of Hoot Gibson's and Gene Autry's films. He also was the voice of Disney's Pinocchio! He also played a brat rather well in this movie.

So is this any good? Yes...it's a nice change of pace seeing the usual story (in this case rustlers) take a back seat to the main story involving the school teacher and the children. Most unusual but quite enjoyable.

At 53 minutes into the film, the children in the ceremony salute the flag and give the pledge of allegiance in the way it was given when the film was made in 1938--saying "I pledge allegiance..." and raising their right hand in a salute that would be discontinued when the U.S. entered World War II as the salute too closely resembled the fascist salute. I know of only one other film, Remember the Day starring Claudette Colbert, in which the same salute is given as the time was 1916. The pledge goes back to 1893 when it first appeared in the magazine Youth's Companion and went through several revisions until the present version was established in 1954.

William Boyd had no use for singing cowboys and tried to minimize the music in the Hopalong Cassidy movies every chance he got. He lost the battle in this flick. The Brendan Boys choir sing their little hearts out.

I am in perfect agreement with Mr. Boyd. But after you get passed the singing, this movie is a rollicking adventure even if the rustler plot has been done to death. There is a even slight twist to the proceedings that is somewhat of a surprise.

However, it isn't the fate of the Bar 20 cattle that holds your attention here. It's the fun that the three heroes (Hoppy, Windy, and Lucky) have competing for the affections of the new schoolmarm that steal the show. Don't pass up the chance to see Hoppy in an apron and Windy slicked up to go a courtin'.

Taking time away from battling rustlers ever trying to steal Bar 20 stock, Hoppy, Lucky, and Windy have to do some juvenile disciplining because hatchet faced Emily Fitzroy has the kids running wild on her.

The group is led by Dickie Jones as Artie Peters, nephew and eventual heir to the Bar 20 ranch. The rest of the kids is made up of the Robert Mitchell Boy's Choir who you might remember were a similar discipline problem for Barry Fitzgerald in Going My Way.

Well Barry got Bing Crosby and Hoppy gets a pretty new school teacher in Evelyn Venable. She's got all the Bar 20 hands in heat, especially Windy and Lucky. Even old Gabby Hayes. She'd like to corral Hoppy though and this film is closest Hopalong Cassidy ever got to romance.

Sad to say though the whole business really did interfere with the main plot about tracking the rustlers down. I will say though the head of the gang will be something of a surprise though with the limited running time, cast of characters, and the general familiarity with B westerns, fans should figure it out.

Now if Hoppy had gotten Father O'Malley..........................

The three previous critics have given an excellent idea of how different this is from the typical B western, including most of the Hopalong Cassidy westerns. The most improbable feature is the superb singing of the boys choir in a frontier one-room schoolhouse, and, as noted by others, we get lots of it. I have one quibble with one of the other reviews. This is not by any means the closest Hoppy came to becoming romantically involved with the leading lady -- it happened rather often in the 1930s films. It is unusual in having both Lucky (Russell Hayden) and Windy (George Hayes -- not yet Gabby) courting the adorable young school teacher, and, indeed. all the men of the Bar 20 Ranch are interested in her. Most of this movie is pleasant, folksy light comedy -- good-hearted fun. I liked it quite a lot, so rate it 8 out of a possible ten. But this is not a typical Hopalong Cassidy western!

Wow, the other reviewers here were not exaggerating. This was unlike every other Hoppy film. Some 90% of the movie was dialog with and about the new pretty female teacher. We were repeatedly told how important education is and how many ways the cowhands of the Bar 20 could love her — as a husband, brother, father, etc. Constantly fawning over her. It's OK to devote SOME time to things like this; they add local color, character development, flesh out the characters, etc. But it was way overdone here. The movie became a domestic family light comedy. Only ten percent or less of the film was devoted to the cattle rustlers. My advice is: skip the movie.

One observation: I don't know why the leader of the rustlers caused his doom by planning two events at the same time/day: (1) marrying and leaving the West with the school ma-rm, and (2) rustling the Bar-20 cattle with his gang. He couldn't be with the gang, so they exposed him.

Yes it's true, this isn't your typical Hoppy western, but that alone makes it a breath of fresh air, part comedy, part action. William Boyd's star power as Hopalong Cassidy carries much of the film as always, but good turns by Russell Hayden and Gabby Hayes also make good viewing, Evelyn Venables is one of the loveliest of female leads, and young Dickie Jones, the future 'Buffalo Bill Jnr,' is quite endearing and not too brattish! I can't believe that Boyd hated kids and horses and was hard to get along with, everything I've read about him suggests otherwise!

Lots of light comedy, most of it funny. Lots of choral singing (5 songs are far too much for this to be an effective western). Hoppy uses a stereoscope. Little action, lots of talk. There is one great exchange between Hoppy & Windy involving Windy's feelings towards women. Hoppy's good natured charm & philosophy towards raising children "properly" is much in evidence here, something that would become a regular feature on his late 1940s TV show. But overall, too little plot, too little action. I give it 5/10.

Everyone is after Evelyn Venable is this flick and who can blame them. Even the cattle rustlers led by Charles Anthony Hughes have to take a back seat. William Boyd as 'Hoppy' has to chase rustlers, keep the kids in line and keep more than one eye on Venable. Great to see the Hopalong Cassidy regulars William Duncan, Clara Kimball Young, and Russell Hayden at our favorite Bar 20 Ranch. Of course the forever beloved George Hayes (Windy) before his 'Gabby' days is in rare form with his wit and wisdom. Dickie Jones as Artie Peters is great as every teacher's worst nightmare. With all this this the singing by the Robert Mitchell Boy Choir is superb as always.

Rather tame Hoppy western. Action doesn't pick up til the end. It's more a personality plot than the usual hard riding, fast shooting. Seems the kids need a new teacher at their frontier school. Of all things, the boys war-danced around and hog-tied their old teacher, a mean old biddy. That scene alone may be worth tuning in. And leading the kids is young Artie (Jones), a little hellion that Hoppy knows needs civilizing. So who comes in from the East to take over the classroom and Artie but the delicately winsome June (Venable). She's like Cinderella taking over from the wicked witch of the east. Right away all the guys go nuts over her girlish good looks including Lucky and Windy. Meanwhile throw in a rustler sub-plot led by town baddie Raleigh (Hughes). So, who will June end up with, and will little Artie get civilized, then too, will the rustlers succeed (fat chance).

The boys choir that makes up the schoolroom class is excellent with an iconic song selection, while Hoppy's winning as usual, and bow-legged Gabby gets the laughs. All in all, the 73-minutes is a matter of taste for fans of matinee westerns. It's a decided departure from the norm, but with entertaining features of its own.