La rueda del destino

Ace Hoppy western, a little long on talk but with a number of good touches. Hoppy is summoned to a corrupt town after a gold prospector is murdered for his claim. In town he finds a number of sinister types, including a crafty saloon hostess, a mustachioed bad guy, and a tough gunslinger. Good thing Buddy (Janney) and Windy (Hayes) are there to help.

Wow, catch hostess Lila's frilly black gown-- looks like it may eat her head; also, looks like her whole wardrobe comes from Ming the Merciless. I love that opening face-off between Peg-leg and Windy for the Grouchy Old Geezer Championship. And catch Morris Ankrum as scary bad guy Blackie; I'm glad he converted to a lordly scientist so he could save 50's audiences from all those horrible space monsters (e.g. Rocketship XM {1950}).

Anyway, wait for the end when all the expected hard riding, fast guns, and open spaces fill the screen. Also, note the unusual relationship between Hoppy and good-bad girl Lila; it's got some depth to it. In fact, the 74-minutes is rather philosophical in places as the dialog suggests. Anyway, it's a little different Hoppy showing again what a fine actor he was, something not expected of the usual matinee hero.

(In Passing-- back in the 1950's Hoppy and Topper would ride in LA's New Years Day Rose Parade. He always made a point of waving to the kids and stopping in places to say 'Hi'. Boy, did that make kids like me feel special. Thanks Mr. Boyd.)