User Reviews

If you're a B Western movie fan, no doubt you're willing to overlook the inconsistencies in stories like the one presented here. For example, early on the doctor at the Indian Agency explains to Tom Kirk (Bob Steele) how his father died, and then proceeds to tell him that Joe Kirk wasn't his real father. Tom was left an orphan during an Apache attack that killed both his parents and was later adopted by Joe Kirk and raised as his own son. But later on when it's revealed that Sheriff Landon (Ed Cassidy) is Tom's real father, no attempt is made to explain how he survived the Apache attack or any other circumstances leading to the loss of his son. It just makes you scratch your head.

But as I say, no need to get worked up over it. Probably more so than in most of his oaters, Bob Steele gets to show off his physique and athletic ability here with an opening scene wrestling contest against an Indian warrior. He also makes a running mount on his horse Coco, one of many steeds Steele rode during his acting career. In the story, Steele's character buys the horse from his new friend Happy (Syd Saylor). In an early scene he even rides another horse bareback, something you don't usually see with a cowboy leading man, although I've seen Autry do it aboard Champ once as well.

With Syd Saylor you never quite know what you're going to come up with. Here he's a café owner charging for pies by the inch while honing up his pet bullfrog Hopalong for a jumping contest. Happy saves the day for Tom Kirk late in the story when outlaw Bo Talley (Edward Howard) gets the drop on him, and he does it with a well aimed pie throw!

Well keeping in mind that these stories were originally written for a juvenile matinée movie crowd, I guess the stories didn't need to make much sense as long as there was plenty of action. But the topper here came at the very end when good old Happy managed to defy all laws of science and zoology when he presented Hopalong with his new family of baby frogs. How they bypassed the tadpole stage no one will ever know.