Leather Burners

Hoppy's called in to help buddy Johnny stop rustlers from grabbing his herd which then mysteriously vanish. Then too, what the heck's with that weird abandoned gold mine near Johnny's ranch. Things do seem strange.

It's an unusual Hoppy that breaks ranks with traditional oaters. There's a ton of imagination in that creepy mine-shaft showdown, enough to make it and the flick itself memorable. And whoever came up with the weird character and scary looks of Bucktoe (Givot) deserves a Bela Lugosi Oscar. In fact, Bucktoe's wild face and angry demeanor is enough to keep me awake at night with a six-gun cap-pistol at my side. On top of this are a number of plot twists and turns that kept me guessing, marking a real departure from the usual oater as good as they might be.

Nonetheless, Hoppy and California (Clyde) are there to keep the format familiar, if not the various twists. There's plenty of hard-riding and fast-shooting but no flying-fists, and that's along with some great rocky scenery. Then too, catch Bob Mitchum in an early role as a henchman baddie - he even gets a few spoken lines. And guess who gets the one girl in the cast - they didn't call him Superman for nothing (Reeves).

Anyway, don't let this one slip by, especially if you like imaginative departures as variation on the familiar.