Riders of the Deadline

I absolutely love Robert Mitchum, but I'm sorry to admit I didn't sit through all 19 films he made appearances in in 1943. I watched a couple of them, including two Hopalong Cassidy flicks where he had more than just a line here and there. Riders of the Deadline was the last of this western series Bob made, and his part was the largest in this installment, so I rented it.

This certainly isn't William Boyd's last time as the recognizable cowboy; this is the 50th of 63 films he made in the series! In this one, his young buddy is killed and gets a posthumous bad reputation, so Hoppy sets out to restore his friend's good name and catch the gang who did him in. As you might suspect, Robert Mitchum is one of the bad cowboys. He does have some speaking lines in this one, though, unlike Colt Comrades, where he gets killed off in the first five minutes of the movie. If you really like old western serials, you might have already gotten hooked on the Hopalong Cassidy series, but if this isn't your cup of tea, you'll probably be glad they're only an hour a piece.