ScoobyMint Disappointment for a huge fan!

FrogGlace In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

Salubfoto It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

ChampDavSlim The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

classicsoncall It was baddie Tad Hammond (Douglass Dumbrille) who made the statement in my summary line to Jerry Doyle (Kirk Alyn), his handpicked choice to replace Hopalong Cassidy (William Boyd) as the new sheriff of Buffalo Buttes. It's a good bet the players involved all got a look at Edward G. Robinson and Humphrey Bogart in a gangster flick that came out five years earlier titled "Bullets or Ballots". That was the first thing I thought about when I heard the comment.So as the comment implies, there's a rigged outcome at stake, with Hoppy running opposed for sheriff in an election presumed to be his running away. But Hammond, recently released from prison has other ideas, and his revenge plan includes getting rid of Hoppy once and for all. He recruits forty outlaws from neighboring environs in a show of force meant to intimidate and dissuade local ranchers from voting for Cassidy. The strategy is successful, as Doyle is elected sheriff by a slim margin, with more votes counted than eligible voters! Sounds like this could have taken place in Chicago.Fans of old time action serials will recognize the future first movie Superman, Kirk Alyn, as the none too enthusiastic new sheriff Jerry Doyle, as long as you can overlook that evil intentioned mustache. He's a goner after Hoppy switches clothes with him, shot by his former sponsor when mistaken for our hero from a distance. The final showdown between Ali Baba Hammond's Forty Thieves and Hoppy's old pals from the Bar-20 ends successfully, but not before Cassidy and Hammond duke it out on a swinging rope bridge, which should give you a pretty good idea of how this one turns out.Andy Clyde once again provides the laughs for the matinée fans of the day, applying new meaning to the term breakfast sandwich, and later having a run in with a store front dummy, although as I write this, it could have been the dummy thinking the same thing. Rounding out Hoppy's usual trio is Jimmy Rogers in a largely unnecessary role, as he doesn't have much to do except try to woo the pretty Katherine Reynolds (Louise Currie).

bkoganbing Douglass Dumbrille an outlaw who Hopalong Cassidy brought to justice once is out on parole and he's got himself a scheme to take out Hoppy as sheriff. He imports a gang of Forty Thieves to town and they run roughshod over the populace at election time. Believe it or not, the symbol of western law and order is defeated at the polls by Kirk Alyn who is a no good and weak gambler and is Dumbrille's stooge.Of course these kind of crooked shenanigans might be good for the big city east and their political machines, but in the west they don't cotton to that sort of thing. In the end Hoppy with the help of sidekicks Jimmy Rogers and Andy Clyde get things righted and the real forces of law and order triumph.With some of the commentary it makes Forty Thieves is one of the more interesting Hopalong Cassidy westerns made. The screenwriter Michael Wilson found himself blacklisted as a result of the HUAC hearings and I can see why some right wing yahoos might object to some of the content of this film. I'd give it a look, it's quite interesting.

zeppo-2 This episode of the series hits the ground running from the first scene as Hoppy cleans up the territory while newspaper proclaim this with banner headlines.It's a shoe-in that Hoppy will be re-elected town sheriff, that is until parolee, Tad Hammond rides into town. Still smarting from been sent up the river by Hoppy years earlier, he vows revenge and with the help of the local gangs, he rigs the election. Saloon owner, Doyle is installed as puppet sheriff and the crooks think they've won. Up to the point where Hoppy gives them an ultimatum to leave town and gives the warning of what will happen if they don't in the summary above.Hoppy has his black duds on and his steely gaze is full on too. Even California proves he isn't quite the bumbling comic relief when he saves Hoppy from a back-shooter. Sadly, Jimmy Rogers is useless and just gets tied up at any occasion.Good action all the way through with a big shoot out at the finale and a classic fight on a swaying rope bridge above the river. All of which may be clichés now but still entertaining just the same.

bsmith5552 "Forty Thieves" was the 54th and final Hopalong Cassidy series western produced by Harry "Pop" Sherman. It is nonetheless an above average entry in the long running series. It was directed by long time series director Lesley Selander. The production values remained high and the supporting cast was filled with a cast of veteran players.Hoppy (William Boyd) is the sheriff who has driven out all of the bad elements from the town with the help of his trusty deputies California Carlson (Andy Clyde) and Jimmy Rogers (Jimmy Rogers). The film starts out with several hard ridin' chase sequences of Hoppy chasing down the baddies. One day an old nemesis Tad Hammond (Douglas Dumbrille) rides into town. It seems that Hoppy had been responsible for Hammond's recent imprisonment.Hammond vows revenge. Since Hoppy is running for re-election as sheriff, Hammond plans to run his own candidate for the office with a little help from his friends. His candidate is the spineless gambler Jerry Doyle (Kirk Alyn). So Hammond calls in the forty thieves of the title to ensure that Doyle wins. The forty thieves include such "B" western veteran heavies as Glenn Strange, Hal Taliaferro, Bob Kortman and Jack Rockwell.The heroine and love interest of Rogers is Katherine Reynolds (Louise Currie) the daughter of upstanding citizen Judge Reynolds (Robert Frazer).Hammond fixes the election and Doyle is proclaimed sheriff. Hoppy then decides that it is time to clean up the town once more. He is aided by his former boss Buck Peters (Herbert Rawlinson) and the boys of the Bar 20. After a classic climatic gunfight justice prevails and California provides the standard "leave 'em laughing" ending.This would be the last Cassidy feature for two years. Boyd would take over production of the series in 1946 and crank out a further 12 installments before moving on to TV in the early 50s.Kirk Alyn (Doyle) is best remembered for playing Superman in two Columbia serials (1948 & 1950)."Pop" Sherman could hold his head up high as he signed off from the series for the last time.