There was a time when westerns were the prevalent genre of the day. Yes, cowboys were the heroes that rode off into the sunset adored by all not super heroes, aliens, vampires, zombies, or horror-torture puppets. There are many well-known actors who were associated with westerns, such as John Wayne, Roy Rogers, and Gene Autry. There are also a few fictional characters who are synonymous with westerns, and no two come to my mind quicker than the Lone Ranger and Hopalong Cassidy.
Hopalong Cassidy was brought to life on the silver screen by William Boyd, and "Bar 20 Rides Again" was his third outing as the black-clad, sure-shooting foreman of the Bar 20. Cassidy and his two sidekicks, Red Connors and Johnny Nelson, ride out to the Arnolds' settlement to stop a gang of rustlers from scaring them off their ranch.
The plot is pretty paint-by-numbers. A "sophisticate" secretly plots to drive honest ranchers off while pretending to be their friend. Nevertheless, the movie is very entertaining, and it may be just better written than some of the sequels. Hopalong spends most of the time in the disguise of a card shark to get into the gang terrorizing the Arnolds, a plot device that isn't used too often.
Perhaps what makes this movie more interesting is that the villain is a little more unique. He has a Napoleon complex, literally obsessed with the "tiny" terror from France. His comeuppance is a little more poetic than the usual gunfight allows.
Another appealing factor is the inclusion of George "Gabby" Hayes. "Gabby" is simply put one of the greatest actors who ever lived. Watching any of his films, you would never guess that Hayes was really a suave, city slicker who was the complete opposite of the "old timers" he constantly played. Hayes' first scene, where he's bragging to Hopalong (in disguise) about how close he was to the famous Hopalong Cassidy, is just one of many examples of Hayes enriching any movie he was in.
It's easy to claim this film as one of my favorite Hoppy films, but I could say the same about a lot of other of Hopalong Cassidy's adventures as well.
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