JohnHowardReid Number 31 of the 66-picture series (Zinman's numbering. Paramount's number is 37). In this one, Cassidy changes the color of his shirt from the traditional black to a light gray, similar to the fatigue uniform worn by the Texas Rangers. There's a new horse in this one. Boyd, of course, rides "Topper", but Hayden has a new mount in "Cooper" who replaces the palomino, "Banjo", who was unable to keep silent in front of the cameras.The reason there's so much dialogue in this one and that it's so slowly delivered, Sherman explains, is that he was experimenting in producing a movie which deaf people could lip read with no difficulty. It's also in this entry that Hopalong Cassidy meets up with "California" - and a very boring meeting it is too, running longer than five minutes. "Pop" Sherman once said that his formula for making the Hoppy movies was to "open big, forget about the middle, and come to a thrilling finish." That's certainly what happens here. After Hoppy teams up with "California", they join "Lucky" and then proceed to make Santa Carmen "a fine place for folks to live in". Fortunately, they do so via some thrilling action sequences - so thrilling indeed that the TV Censor has been at this film, mutilating at least four scenes. Russell Harlan's photography is well up to his usual high standard. Victor Young has written a music score for three or four of the action highlights, but the rest of the film has no music whatever! Lesley Selander's direction has occasional touches of inventiveness.

classicsoncall I take it this was the first meeting between Hopalong Cassidy (William Boyd) and California Carlson (Andy Clyde), as the two don't know each other when they first meet. In fact, California mistakes Hoppy for a notorious outlaw named Ben Stokes (Glenn Strange) who comes on the scene later. Interestingly, California is hooked up with an outlaw gang himself at the beginning of the story, performing their cooking duties, but is soon recruited by Hoppy to become a good guy. There's not a lot of credibility to the way all this happens, but it makes for a good story.Hoppy does know Lucky Jenkins (Russell Hayden) however, and both men are employed as Texas Rangers. When a citizens committee from California arrives to request help in getting rid of an outlaw gang, Captain Andrews (Morgan Wallace) of The Rangers offers the opportunity to Cassidy, who turns it down, preferring to head back to his Bar-20 Ranch when his stint with the Rangers expires, a decision that didn't last too long. Lucky, on the other hand, is all gung-ho to strike out for new horizons, and heads off to California with Hoppy's good wishes.There's a bit of a huh? moment following that first shootout between the bad guys and Hoppy with his 'new' partner California. Since California didn't have a gun of his own, Hoppy gave him one of his to provide cover while he snuck around to capture two of the baddies who didn't run away. When he makes it back to California's position, he takes the gun away and throws it over his shoulder and into the brush - but it was his own gun! There's also a Whoa! moment when Hoppy and California first meet up with Lucky in the town of Santa Carmen, where Lucky takes on his first sheriff assignment. Lucky insists on striking out on his own, and when Hoppy tries to stop him, Lucky knocks him to the ground! Actually, it's more of a push since Lucky didn't strike him, but it did look like an awkward moment for the cowboy hero.Eventually, all the forces of law and order line up to confront gang leader Bruce Morgan (Morris Ankrum) and his henchmen Gardner (Dick Curtis) and Ben Stokes. Morgan offers up one of those classic Western challenges to the good guys - "You want me, you'll have to come and get me!" Well, you wouldn't have to have seen see many of these oaters to know what happens next. Hoppy went and got him!

arfdawg-1 This 31st entry of the 66 films in the Hopalong Cassidy series marks the first of 35 consecutive appearances, in the remaining films of the series, of Scottish-born comedian Andy Clyde in the role of "California Carlson", although his introduction in this film is as "California Jack" Carlson and his credentials won't bear much scrutiny. The film finds local officers in an outlaw-infested town in California helpless to cope with the situation and a citizens committee comes to Texas and appeals to the Texas Rangers for help in organizing the forces of law and order. Captain Andrews of the Rangers offers the assignment to Hopalong Cassidy and Lucky Jenkins, but Cassidy, whose period of service in the Rangers is almost over, refuses. The as-usual impetuous Lucky takes the job alone. WWhile on patrol duty, Cassidy is following the trail of a large herd of rustled horses and discovers the hide-out of the Bruce Morgan gang. Fun B picture stuff. You cant go wrong. But can you go right?

bkoganbing Well actually this film should be called Two Men From Texas because one of them is from California. For the rest of the Hopalong Cassidy feature film series Andy Clyde became William Boyd's third Mesquiteer sidekick as California Carlson and of course that's where he's from though he embellishes quite a bit his accomplishments.In fact Hoppy's first encounter with California has him as the cook for an outlaw gang. He first arrests him and then decides that he's harmless and is even a good material witness to a pair of outlaws whom he really wants played by western heavies Glenn Strange and Dick Curtis.Those two have fled to California where Hoppy's other sidekick Russell Hayden has been on loan from the Texas Rangers trying to clean up a gang headed by claim jumping Morris Ankrum. He's been dispossessing a lot of the residents off the Spanish land grants they hold title to. Of course all the bad guys fight all the good guys in the inevitable climax.Three Men From Texas is quite a bit bloodier in the climax than the normal run of Hopalong Cassidy films. A woman is shot and killed earlier, the love interest for Hayden and then later her father and Ankrum have a fight to the death of both. I'm surprised Paramount didn't soften this for their kid audience.Still it's a Cassidy feature that holds up well for today.