Ace Cassidy western. It's only Boyd's second of the series, so many of the later trademarks are not yet in place. Instead of "Hoppy", for example, he's called "Bill". Plus his first horse, a black one, tosses him into a swamp of quicksand of all places! Good thing he soon gets the trustworthy Topper. Familiar cohorts Hayes and Ellison are on hand to help, but not yet as a team. There're also a number of uncharacteristic twists I didn't expect, along with great mountain scenery you haven't seen a hundred times before. Plotwise-- Cassidy is trying to get little Pablo back to his sometimes outlaw granddad, El Toro, before baddie Big Henry kills him. After all, little Pablo's seen Henry's gang kill his parents, so now he's hiding out in the mountains, thanks to saloon dancer Delores. But can she evade the killer gang before they find out, and can little Pablo survive in the wilderness.Speaking of Delores (Woodbury), her opening scenes put her in the tightest bustle this side of Mae West. And catch Cassidy's many hard-eyed stares, proving he could go toe-to-toe with Eastwood any time. In fact, even though he's still a force for good, our hero shows a shifty side that soon disappears from standard Hoppy. Anyway, I'm still not sure what Bartender Spike (Hayes) kept trying to do with one hand. I think it was a roll-your-own cigarette, old style. See if you can figure it out.Anyway, it's an unusual Hoppy, well staged and well worth catching up with, including more surprises than usual.

Paramount. 10 October 1935, Howard Bretherton. Screenplay by Doris Schroeder and Harrison Jacobs. Based on the 1931 novel, Hop-along Cassidy and the Eagle's Brood, by Clarence Edward Mulford. William Boyd, Jimmy Ellison, William Farnum, Addison Richards, George Hayes, Joan Woodbury, Frank Shannon, Dorothy Revier, Paul Fix, Al Lydell, John Merton. 59 minutes. (Available on an excellent Passport or Platinum Disc or Echo Bridge and also a VintageFilmBuff DVD). In this one, Bill Boyd is referred to as "Bill Cassidy" rather than Hopalong. It's a minor entry with all the action saved for the last reel - and pretty tame action it is too! True, there are some attractive location exteriors and one or two deft touches in Bretherton's direction. And Joan Woodbury dances to the Sam H, Stept (music) and Sidney Mitchell (lyrics) song, "Free With Love".

The trio is only a duo in this second Hopalong Cassidy western The Eagle's Brood. Also Hoppy who is now a deputy sheriff resigns on a point of honor. Behavior expected of a cowboy hero.Legendary Mexican bandit El Toro played by Franklyn Farnum is spotted on this side of the border. Farnum is on a mission, to find and rescue his grandson George Mori who was left alive after his parents are killed when they are robbed of gold he was shipping.Farnum finds Hoppy all right, stuck in quicksand and sinking fast. Who could blame Hoppy for not following through on his apprehension after El Toro pulls him out. Instead he takes on El Toro's mission to find the little kid. The outlaws who killed the parents also want the kid to eliminate a witness.As I said it's only a duo here, Bill Boyd and his young sidekick James Ellison. Gabby Hayes is here, minus his beard and sporting a handlebar mustache. He's bartender for head villain Addison Richard at Richard's saloon.The Eagle's Brood proves if nothing else Hoppy is a man of honor.

Pablo Chavez watches his parents killed by a band of outlaws who are after the elder Chavez' gold. Pablo runs away from the scene of the murder to get help and runs into Dolores, a dancer in the town's saloon, who hides Pablo in her cabin, and then goes to town for help from her boss, Big Henry, but when she arrives, she overhears that Big Henry was responsible for the Chavez murders. Dolores hides Pablo in a more secluded place and writes a letter to Pablo's grandfather, Pedro, who lives across the Mexican border as a notorious bandit known as El Toro,who rides to the saloon where Dolores works, En route he saves the life of Hopalong Cassidy (a county deputy), who was searching for the outlaw. El Toro begs Hoppy to let him go after his grandson, but Hoppy won't let the outlaw go across the US border. Instead, Hoppy agrees to go after the boy himself and rides (with fellow deputy Johnny Nelson, who have both turned in their badges) to meet with Dolores. Meanwhile, Big Henry learns that Pablo is still alive and can recognize the bandits and that Dolores is hiding him. Dolores is killed by Big Henry, right after promising Hoppy information on the boys' whereabouts. Hoppy gets a job as one of Big Henry's gun hands, thinking he can prevent Big Henry from making anymore attempts against Pablo, but the outlaws believe that Hoppy might be double crossing Big Henry and decide to take him out. A very gritty entry in the Hoppy series, with the character being less noble and more meaner than in the subsequent entries. Farnum is excellent as the former outlaw El Toro, evoking a lot of sympathy from the audience. Hayes gives another great performance as Big Henry's bartender who is trying to help Hoppy, behind his boss' back. Bretherton creates loads of action and suspense in this worthy entry. Many nuances Hoppy shows in the film (buying drinks for the ladies, rolling a cigarette, and his stern disposition) would disappear in the later films in the series. Rating, based on B westerns, 8.