Rustlers' Valley (1937)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Nate Watt

Writers:

Clarence E. Mulford (characters)
Harry O. Hoyt (dialogue & screenplay)

Release Date:

23 July 1937 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Western

Tagline:

This Rip-Roarin', Gun-Totin' Hombre Blats His Way To New Glories!

Plot:

Hoppy clears Lucky on a charge of bank robbery and foils the plot of a crooked lawyer to rustle a herd of pedigree cattle and take over the valley.

Plot Keywords:

Bank Robbery | Crooked Lawyer | Jealousy | Posse | Loan

Cast

William Boyd	...	'Hopalong' Cassidy
George 'Gabby' Hayes	...	'Windy' Halliday (as George Hayes)
Russell Hayden	...	'Lucky' Jenkins
Morris Ankrum	...	Glen Randall (as Stephen Morris)
Muriel Evans	...	Agnes Randall
Lee J. Cobb	...	Cal Howard (as Lee Colt)
Ted Adams	...	Taggart (Randall Foreman)
Al Ferguson	...	Joe, Howard Henchman
John Beach	...	Sheriff Boulton

Runtime:

61 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:S

Filming Locations:

Columbia State Historic Park - 22708 Broadway, Columbia, California, USA

Company:

Harry Sherman Productions

Quotes:

Cal Howard: [with virulence to Hoppy] Don't feel safe without your guns - even at a paty, eh?
'Hopalong' Cassidy: [mockingly] Well, I'll tell yuh, I thought it was a costume party, so I came dressed as a badman.
Cal Howard: Well, bad men, whether they're bandits or bank robbers are not wanted here.

Movie Connections:

Follows Hop-a-long Cassidy (1935)

What Happened to the Bar 20?

"Rustler's Valley" is a routine entry in the long running Hopalong Cassidy series produced by Harry "Pop" Sherman. There's little action save for the finale and no fights to speak of.

It does have a couple of interesting footnotes though. First Stephen Morris (aka Morris Ankrum), a regular villain in the early entries in the series, plays a good guy for a change...the heroine's father. Second, Lee Colt who plays the chief villain, became better known as Lee J. Cobb and enjoyed a long and distinguished career.

The story has crooked lawyer Cal Howard (Cobb) and his cronies trying to force rancher Randall (Morris) and daughter Agnes (Muriel Evans) off their ranch. Hoppy (William Boyd), Lucky (Russell Hayden) and Windy (George "Gabby" Hayes) come to their aid.

Curiously enough, Hoppy hires on as Randall's foreman. There is no mention of the Bar 20 (Hoppy's home base)whatsoever in the picture. Hayes had now developed his "Gabby" character although he is called Windy in this series. He continued to be billed as George Hayes until he moved over to Republic to co-star with Roy Rogers.