Review of The Frontiersmen

Yes, this is a pretty odd addition to the Hopolong Cassidy film series, but not necessarily lacking in interest. There is a bit of standard cattle rustling fare, to seal it's status as a western. But, the primary emphasis is on the school kids(all boys!), their new, pretty, schoolmarm(Evelyn Venable, as June Lake), and the question of whether she will want to marry any of the local men, and stay on as the kid's teacher. But, June doesn't show up until 23 min. into the film. Before that , there are some interactions between 11y.o.Artie Peters and the Bar 20 crew........ The rather old, plain looking, teacher Snooksie(Emily Fitzroy) is subjected to tricks and hooky by some of her students. One day, the boys tie her up to the flag pole, and dance around her in a circle, whooping it up, like a bunch of Indians. When they release her and go back in the schoolhouse, they lock her in the closet, before they sing some traditional songs. Guess they are practicing?.Snooksie soon tenders her resignation........ Then, we get an introduction to the rustlers, as they plan to rustle the Bar 20 cattle, and heard them over the border. But, they take their good ole time, and they still haven't accomplished this at the end of the film!............When June steps out of the stagecoach, in town, Hoppy welcomes her, as he had sent a letter to a school official asking for a young single woman teacher, as a replacement. He got more than he bargained for. Only trouble is, the mayor Jud Thorpe, tells her to go back where she came from, as he wrote to another school official, asking for a male teacher, on the assumption that a man had a better chance of controlling the kids than a demure young female. But ,Hoppy insisted that she be given a chance, and Thorpe reluctantly agreed. Hoppy convinced her to stay and give it a try, offering her room and board at the Bar 20 ranch. When they showed up at the Bar 20, all the hands around the ranch house ogled her, and wanted to court her. Eventually, Hoppy's special friends, Lucky and Windy, inquired about the possibility of marriage, but she turned them down, saying she more thought of them like a brother and father, respectively. Clearly, she favored Hoppy as a potential romantic partner. Later, Hoppy's jaw dropped to the floor when she said she was going to marry the mayor, whom he detested, and move back to Boston. He advised against this step, but she was not dissuaded, until she found out that the mayor was also the leader of the local rustlers: Dan Raleigh! Even Hoppy didn't know this. Raleigh figured his game was up, so he galloped off to his rustler friends, and prepared to steal the Bar 20's cattle. Hoppy and the other hands of the Bar 20 gave chase to the rustlers, and guess the outcome.......The finale consists of June ready to shove off for Boston, alone. She claims she will return for the next school year, but I wouldn't count on it. Things could happen back in Boston, and I'm not convinced this demure Eastern city girl can adjust, long term, to this dusty range community.......Well, is this worth sitting through? For some, I think so. The plot involves a number of subplots, which relate to each other. in one way or another.