Bar 20 Justice (1938) Poster

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7/10
Windy makes this one very funny.
planktonrules3 October 2020
A mine owner is having horrible luck...or so it seems. There have been several deaths in the mine in one week alone. Later, you know it's no accident when the owner himself is viciously killed by a gang of baddies. Now that Ann is running the mine, Hoppy and his pals volunteer to help her and figure out what's REALLY happening.

The best part of this film is, by far, watching Windy as the mine's guard. Hopalong knows that his foreman is actually in league with the baddies...and he sends him a man who seems like the absolutely WORST watchman in history. Why? Because Windy pretends to be profoundly deaf in order to convince the foreman that his henchmen can work at night without discovery. Now I have a deaf daughter and I am hard of hearing myself...but I didn't find this tacky or politically incorrect. It was very funny the way he played it up...and he was just wonderful.

Overall, a very good AND funny installment of the Hopalong Cassidy franchise. Well worth your time. And, if you want to see it, YouTube has tons of these films...all fully restored and in pristine condition.
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6/10
Lived A Miner, 49er
boblipton26 April 2015
Hoppy is on his way to New York for a vacation. However, there's trouble at a mine owned by the widow of a friend of his, so it's up to him, Gabby Hayes and Russell Hayden to sort out matters in this, the 19th of the long-running series.

The regulars are in their usual form in this one, with Gabby Hayes particularly amusing, but Gwen Gaze as the widow is poor in her line readings and it is up to the usually stolid William Boyd to go even quieter in his scenes with her to avoid overwhelming her. For the rest, it is a typically well produced effort, with decent camera-work. Fans of the series will have a fine time and newcomers to B westerns will find it amusing.
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6/10
Postpones his vacation
bkoganbing14 November 2016
Poor Hoppy. You would think the guy would deserve a vacation and he's taking some time away from the Bar 20 to go on a trip to New York. Central Park, Barnum's Museum, and Delmonico's, all that the Big Apple had to offer then. But an appeal from Gwen Gaze the new owner of a mine to look into the death of her father and Hoppy can't turn her down. In fact she's got a bit of a thing for that gallant knight of the plains.

What's happening is that a neighboring mine owner has tunneled into Gaze's mine and has been pilfering large amounts of ore. That's a dirty little secret he wants to keep. But Bill Boyd smells it out and he concocts a plan to catch them in the act.

Part of it is for Gabby Hayes to put on a deaf act as a night watchman. It's a pretty funny bit, worth seeing the film for.

Plus a nice action filled shootout at the end. All you could desire from a Hopalong Cassidy film.
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6/10
Hoppy Gets the Shaft!
bsmith555213 April 2020
Warning: Spoilers
"Bar 20 Justice" is, in my opinion, one of the lesser Cassidy westerns. Most of it takes place in a dark claustrophobic mine where there is little opportunity for the action sequences for which the series was known .

Denny Dennis (John Beach)n and Frazier (Pat J. O'Brien) are competing min e owners who are operating mines next to each other. Frazier is in league with assayer Perkins (Joe De Stefani) to take over the Dennis mine. Frazier has a secret entrance into the Dennis mine where he sneaks in an over night crew to work Dennis mine.

Dennis is murdered by Pierce (Walter Long) leaving his widow Ann (Gwen Gaze) to run the mine. She turns to the Bar 20 for help. Hopalong Cassidy (William Boyd) is preparing to leave on a vacation to New York when Lucky Jenkins (Russell Hayden) catches up to him at the train station and informs him of Dennis' murder.

Hoppy goes to Ann and offers to run the mine for her. Unbeknownst to Hoppy, Frazier has planted Slade (Paul Sutton) as foreman. To keep an eye on things, Hoppy arranges for pal Windy Halliday (George "Gabby" Hayes) to be hired as night watchman. For some reason, he plays hard of hearing in an annoying manner. Frazier, meanwhile has tried to buy her mine for a pittance.

Hoppy is captured by Frazier's men and placed in an abandoned cabin which is set on fire. Windy comes to his rescue in the nick of time. Anyway, Hoppy discovers the secret entrance from Frazier's mine and foils the plot to take over the Dennis mine with the help of Bar 20 owner Buck Peters (William Duncan) and his men.

Boyd was one of the better actors in "B" westerns. He shows it here playing against the inexperienced Gwen Gaze. Hayden and Hayes give their usual competent performances except when Hayes takes on that near deaf night watchman role that causes everyone to shout. I hate people who shout.
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6/10
Bar-20 justice
coltras3512 February 2024
A friend is murdered and Hoppy puts off a trip to New York and heads to help save a mining business for his friend's daughter. Outlaw miners have been stealing ore from Ann Dennis' mine. Hoppy spends much of his time running around in the mine shafts tracking down the crooks, but that's after some snooping, sending Gabby become the night watch man - who pretends to have hearing problems - and a secret mine is discovered.

This Hoppy is fairly standard but entertaining enough especially when it ventures down the mine shaft. Nice compact mineshaft which looks claustrophobic- there's a lack of action and more investigation. Shootouts occur later into the western. Lesley Selander directs efficiently. The actress who plays the widow looks like she's reading from an autocue.
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5/10
A tale of two adjacent mines
weezeralfalfa3 February 2019
Warning: Spoilers
A man named Frazier(Pat O'Brian) owns the Devil May Care gold mine. He also covets the adjacent Freeze On mine, owned by Mr. Dennis(John Beach). Recently, there have been a number of suspicious fatal accidents in the Freeze On mine. Was Frazier behind these accidents, in order to scare the miners? Now, he orders Pierce(Walter Long) to kill Dennis, at an opportune time. Pierce enters the Frazier On mine by a secrete door and catches Dennis alone in a empty tunnel he is exploring. Pierce bludgeons Dennis to death, and escapes unnoticed. Now, the miners are even more apprehensive about working the mine. So, Hoppy tells them that he will work the mine by himself, if necessary. This bolsters the confidence of most, and they agree to work the mine..........Meanwhile, Perkins(Joe Stephany) assays a stolen sample of rock from the unworked Freeze On tunnel, and concluded that it is a rich strike. Frasier visits the widow of Dennis and pleads that he would like to buy her mine, which he claims isn't work much, as is, and would require much money to further develop. But, she won't budge. So, if he can't buy the mine, Frazier decides he will steal from it, through that secret passageway between the mines, working at night..........Hoppy OKs the choice of Slade as the new foreman of the Freeze On mine, as he seems to know what he is doing. As Hoppy will discover, Slade is actually in cahoots with Frazier, and leads Frazier's night shift in stealing the gold ore(A very busy man!).........Hoppy talks Slade into hiring a night watchman. Although he gives lip service to Slade's choice of Martin, later, he and Windy stick up Martin, and replace him with Windy, who has much fun with Slade, pretending that he is very hard of hearing, thus continuously misinterpreting what Slade says or asks. For some reason?, Hoppy decides to take Pierce to a deserted shack in Sandstone Gulch. Slade goes along. When they get there, Hoppy pulls a gun on Slade and tells him that he suspects he's working for Frazier. But, for some reason?, the assayer Perkins arrives, and sticks up Hoppy, who is bound with rope, then the interior of the shack set on fire, before Slade, Perkins and Pierce leave. Now, for some strange reason, Windy shows up nearby, sees Hoppy's horse being led away, and the shack on fire. He gallops to the shed, gets the door open, and carries the fainting Hoppy out.(Given the intensity of the fire and smoke, seems like Hoppy should have died of smoke inhalation, if not heat).........Later, the revived Hoppy is leading a posse from the Bar 20 ranch, that plans to attack the nightshift miners, when Windy, still the night watchmen, gives the signal of lighting his pipe. Meanwhile, Buck, the manager of the Bar 20, is keeping an eye on Frazier and Perkins, whom Hoppy stuck up in their town office. But, they trick Buck, and Frazier escapes on horse, while Perkins is shot at the door.(With all the shooting in the dark in that room, seems like there should have been somebody shot!). Frazier rides into the wilderness, with Hoppy after him. Eventually, Frazier stops and starts to climb a complex mountain. They shoot at each other, but eventually run out of bullets. A rather exciting chase, until Hoppy catches up with Frazier, and they have a good old fist fight. Guess who wins. Presumably, Frazier is escorted back to the sheriff.........Meanwhile, the Bar 20 posse overwhelms the night shift miners in the tunnel.........The last scene has Hoppy and the boys saying goodbye to Ann, whose coach is piled with her things, as she takes a long trip to the East. Hoppy says he will take care of the mine in the meanwhile. She says she will be back and share the gold with him........See it at YouTube.
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