The title makes things sound kind of ominous, doesn't it? The story didn't deal with marauders as much as a passel of bad guys attempting to tear down an old church to make way for a mining camp. It didn't make sense to me why they couldn't just work their way around the building, what would have been the problem with that? I saw this film under the title "King of the Range" and that one didn't bear much relationship to the story either. If one wanted to claim Hopalong Cassidy (William Boyd) as King of the Range, any of his movies could have been called that.There was a hint of a ghost story as this one opened, with Hoppy and his sidekicks Lucky (Rand Brooks) and California (Andy Clyde) seeking shelter from a thunderstorm in an abandoned church. That's another thing - for an abandoned church, there was sure a lot of furnishings left behind, especially in the rectory area. Anyway, various noises emanating from the church proper manage to put California's guard up, with his braver buddies seeking out the source. Most of it's chalked up to the wind playing havoc with the organ (?), but then they find someone actually playing a hymn in the middle of the night! I don't think a whole lot of thought was put into this one.If all this seems curious to you, you can bet that Hoppy thought the same thing, and wound up confronting a crew foreman named Riker (Harry Cording) in the morning whose men were starting to take the church apart. With some controversy over who actually owned the building, Riker's men leave, but take up positions outside the church to lay siege against Hoppy and his pals, along with the two women who arrived earlier.I have to second another reviewer here who already mentioned it, but with Riker's men surrounding the church, how come no one saw Hoppy slip out the back door and head to town? A couple of henchmen do give chase after Hoppy took one of the gang out, but that felt like lowering the odds for the folks left inside. The funniest thing though, was when the shooting broke out, one of the baddies lied down to take a nap! It didn't last long, but come on, who wrote that into the story? Well, no need to prolong the agony. Hoppy and his boys come out on top after a deacon of the church (Ian Wolfe) reveals his hand in a scheme to take over the properties in the area due to an oil discovery. In one of your more unique resolutions to a B Western, Cassidy gets the better of the guy who scrambled up into the church tower to gain a vantage point. I won't give it away completely, let's just say that Hoppy rang his bell real good.

With King Of The Raiders as an example you can see how the Hopalong Cassidy series was running out of steam. Budgets got cheaper when producer Harry Sherman started doing his series independently releasing them through United Artists. More production values definitely were over at Paramount. This film essentially is one scene play most of action taking place in a church where William Boyd, Andy Clyde, and Rand Brooks go for shelter one stormy night.Where they find mother and daughter Mary Newton and Dorinda Clifton together with 'Deacon' Ian Wolfe. In the morning there are some other people who say they own the property and want to tear down the church. The women object as Newton is the widow of the late pastor and Clifton his daughter. Mother and daughter in distress, nothing else for a cowboy hero to do but fight for them.So they're all holed up in the church defending it like the Alamo. Still I can't believe there was a back door for Hoppy to go in and out of . You'd think the bad guys would be watching it.If you can't figure who is the dastardly villain you haven't seen too many of these. That could be a blessing.

Hoppy, California, and Lucky pass through the abandoned town of Coltsville and enter a church building for shelter before a storm sets in. A tinge of horror movie elements are added for a few laughs at California's expense. During the night the church organ starts playing music. The team finds Susan Crowell and her mother in a vigil to keep the church alive. When a team of men arrive to destroy the church for its salvageable lumber, Hoppy and his pals defend the church until its rightful ownership can be established. During this time the history of the church and town, a mysterious deacon, and Susan's mother unfold as the standoff between those inside and outside continues.Very few scenes take place outside of the church. As with most westerns there is gun play and fighting. A unique feature of The Marauders is the focus on the tense situation. In a way it is a pleasant break from the routine B western formula. Success can be attributed to a fine cast of actors, strong characters, and a director who was up to the task of doing such a presentation. At least one review of this movie mentioned the fact that the limited scene changes made this production cheap.The Marauders would be a poor choice as an example of a Hopalong Cassidy movie or the B western genre because it is almost entirely a long story about a standoff. It is, however, a successful experiment within the Hopalong Cassidy series.