This is yet another western that revolves around a crooked 'town boss' and his eventual downfall. He is Pecos Kane, and as is frequently the case, he runs the town saloon, and puts on an act of being the most sophisticated, suave, gentleman in town. Always with a small cigar in his mouth, and, surprise, his men rob stagecoaches and rustle cattle, probably among other things. From the beginning, the townies are clearly divided into the crooks and the honest people. Perhaps, this is most clearly illustrated by the arrival of a stage full of women, most destined as saloon girls for Kane. However, as they emerge from the stage, Hoppy is impressed by one sweet-looking woman(Mary), who actually came to be the school mistress, as he soon discovers. The only problem is, according to Kane, here are no children in this town nor surrounding country! Yet, as we latter see, there is an old school house. So, what happened to all the children? As Kane reads Mary's letter of assignment, he notices that her assignment is actually in Mesquite Junction, not the present town of Mesquite. But, again, there is a big problem: this town recently burned down! Thus, Kane offers to employ Mary in some way, in his operations. But, she seems uncomfortable with that prospect, so jumps at the news Hoppy brings, that she is expected to come to the Bar 20 ranch. Windy(George Hayes) happens to have brought the Bar 20 buckboard, but declines the privilege of driving her to the ranch. We soon learn that's because she's a woman. Windy is especially down on women, in general, in this episode. Thus , Hoppy's friend Johnny Nelson, gladly takes the assignment........... Along the trail, Mary mentions that she's never been on a horse. Johnny facetiously replies that they will then have to give her a horse never ridden, to even things. She didn't take the joke well. Later, they stop and watch several men dynamite some rocks, causing them to block a side road. Then, they see a stagecoach approach the rocks. They see the driver shot dead. So, Jimmy gets off the buckboard and onto a horse, to gallop toward the coach.(Just where his horse came from is a mystery!). He exchanges shots with the thieves, but is wounded, and nearly executed. Fortunately, Hoppy comes along and shoots his would-be executioner. They note that the dead man is one of Kane's men.......... A little later, Conchita: an aggressive saloon girl, comes over next to Windy, swipes the coin he put on the counter for a beer, and deposits it between her breasts. Unwilling to stick his hand in there to retrieve it, he vigorously shakes her until a number of coins fall out of her dress: the comic highlight of the film........Johnny and Mary go visit the old schoolhouse. Mary plays teacher, while Johnny plays an unruly student. Then, the crooked sheriff: Kane's puppet, comes along with 2 men, and wants to arrest Johnny for the stage holdup and murder, Fortunately, Hoppy shows up and points out that the sheriff doesn't have a warrant to arrest Johnny. ......Later, the sheriff gets English cattleman Ridley to sign a warrant for the arrest or death of both Johnny and Hoppy(since it was his gold that was stolen from the stagecoach). Outside a Bar 20 party, Johnny, then Hoppy, are captured and taken to a place where they can see cattle nearby. They notice that the cattle have several brands, including the bar 20, suggesting rustling activity. Hoppy tricks the guard, and takes his gun. Since they have no horses, they have to walk somewhere. Eventually, the sheriff and 2 companions happen along. Hoppy sticks them up, and takes their horses, giving the captured man one. They ride to Ridley's ranch, and their hostage tells him that it is Kane and his men that actually staged the robbery. Ridley believes this, and changes his warrant to read Kane, rather than Hoppy and Johnny. Men from Ridley's ranch and the Bar 20 gather and head for town, hoping to trap Kane. Unfortunately, Kane gets advance notice of this, and orders everyone out of his saloon, save for his own men, who build a barricade behind the front door, then scatter to take up defensive positions. A prolonged gun battle follows, extending into the dark. Surely, at their rate of fire, they should have run out of bullets long before! Idaho shows Hoppy a home-made bomb, but Hoppy tells him it's to risky to try to get close to the saloon. Nonetheless, Idaho crawls toward the saloon and is shot. Hoppy decides to try it himself, and throws the bomb through a window, not knowing if it would explode immediately. Very fortunately, Hoppy gets back behind a building before it explodes, demolishing most of the saloon, and setting the rest on fire. Hoppy learns that Mary was in the saloon: a captive of Kane, who somehow also survived. Apparently, none of his men survived. Hoppy goes into the inferno to save Mary, succeeding, and shooting Kane, who was about to shoot him. Hoppy tells Ridley to give the reward money to Johnny and Mary, to give them a start as a couple.........See it at YouTube.
Review of Three on the Trail
