Hopalong Cassidy (film series)

From 1935 to 1948, 66 American Western films were produced featuring the character Hopalong Cassidy, played in all the films by actor William Boyd.[1] The films were at the time collectively known as "Hoppies". In the films, Hopalong, or "Hoppy", and his white horse, Topper, travel through the Old West while dispensing justice, usually with two companions: one young and trouble-prone with a weakness for damsels in distress, the other older, comically awkward and outspoken.[2]

The juvenile lead was successively played by James Ellison, Russell Hayden, Jay Kirby, George Reeves, Rand Brooks, and Jimmy Rogers.[3] George Hayes (later to become known as "Gabby" Hayes) originally played Cassidy's grizzled sidekick, Windy Halliday. After Hayes left the series because of a salary dispute with producer Harry Sherman, he was replaced by the comedian Britt Wood as Speedy McGinnis and finally by the veteran film comedian Andy Clyde as California Carlson. Clyde, the most durable of the sidekicks, remained with the series until it ended. A few actors of future prominence appeared in Cassidy films, notably Robert Mitchum, who appeared in seven films at the beginning of his career.

List of films

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Produced by Harry Sherman for Paramount Pictures

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Produced by Harry Sherman for United Artists

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Produced by William Boyd for United Artists

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Home media

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After Boyd's death, his company devoted to Hopalong Cassidy, U.S. Television Office, retained control of Cassidy films but, by the mid-1960s, had withdrawn them from television and sales in home movie markets. This remained the situation until the mid-1990s, after many Cassidy fans had died, when the company made available to The Western Channel a package series of restored and cleaned negative-based prints of the films to cable TV. These remained available on that channel until 2000, when they were again withdrawn.

On June 16, 2009, Echo Bridge Home Entertainment released the Hopalong Cassidy Ultimate Collector's Edition, which included all 66 theatrical films on 14 DVDs, packed into a facsimile Hopalong Cassidy tin lunchbox.

As of the present, FilmRise distributes the Cassidy films for YouTube under license from U.S. Television Office, which remains the copyright holder for the franchise.

References

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  1. ^ "William Boyd". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved July 19, 2012.
  2. ^ "William Boyd & Hopalong Cassidy", B-Westerns
  3. ^ "Movies" – via NYTimes.com.
  4. ^ Hop-Along Cassidy at IMDb  
  5. ^ The Eagle's Brood at IMDb  
  6. ^ Bar 20 Rides Again at IMDb  
  7. ^ Call of the Prairie at IMDb  
  8. ^ Three on the Trail at IMDb  
  9. ^ Heart of the West at IMDb  
  10. ^ Hopalong Cassidy Returns at IMDb  
  11. ^ Trail Dust at IMDb  
  12. ^ Borderland at IMDb  
  13. ^ Hills of Old Wyoming at IMDb  
  14. ^ North of the Rio Grande at IMDb  
  15. ^ Rustlers' Valley at IMDb  
  16. ^ Hopalong Rides Again at IMDb  
  17. ^ Texas Trail at IMDb  
  18. ^ Partners of the Plains at IMDb  
  19. ^ Cassidy of Bar 20 at IMDb  
  20. ^ Heart of Arizona at IMDb  
  21. ^ Bar 20 Justice at IMDb  
  22. ^ Pride of the West at IMDb  
  23. ^ In Old Mexico at IMDb  
  24. ^ The Frontiersmen at IMDb  
  25. ^ Sunset Trail at IMDb  
  26. ^ Silver on the Sage at IMDb  
  27. ^ Renegade Trail at IMDb  
  28. ^ Range War at IMDb  
  29. ^ Law of the Pampas at IMDb  
  30. ^ Santa Fe Marshal at IMDb  
  31. ^ The Showdown at IMDb  
  32. ^ Hidden Gold at IMDb  
  33. ^ Stagecoach War at IMDb  
  34. ^ Three Men from Texas at IMDb  
  35. ^ Doomed Caravan at IMDb  
  36. ^ In Old Colorado at IMDb  
  37. ^ Border Vigilantes at IMDb  
  38. ^ Pirates on Horseback at IMDb  
  39. ^ Wide Open Town at IMDb  
  40. ^ Riders of the Timberline at IMDb  
  41. ^ Stick to Your Guns at IMDb  
  42. ^ Twilight on the Trail at IMDb  
  43. ^ Outlaws of the Desert at IMDb  
  44. ^ Secret of the Wasteland at IMDb  
  45. ^ Lost Canyon at IMDb  
  46. ^ Undercover Man at IMDb  
  47. ^ Hoppy Serves a Writ at IMDb  
  48. ^ Border Patrol at IMDb  
  49. ^ Leather Burners at IMDb  
  50. ^ Colt Comrades at IMDb  
  51. ^ Bar 20 at IMDb  
  52. ^ False Colors at IMDb  
  53. ^ Riders of the Deadline at IMDb  
  54. ^ Texas Masquerade at IMDb  
  55. ^ Lumberjack at IMDb  
  56. ^ Mystery Man at IMDb  
  57. ^ Forty Thieves at IMDb  
  58. ^ The Devil's Playground at IMDb  
  59. ^ Fool's Gold at IMDb  
  60. ^ Unexpected Guest at IMDb  
  61. ^ Dangerous Venture at IMDb  
  62. ^ The Marauders at IMDb  
  63. ^ Hoppy's Holiday at IMDb  
  64. ^ Silent Conflict at IMDb  
  65. ^ The Dead Don't Dream at IMDb  
  66. ^ Sinister Journey at IMDb  
  67. ^ Borrowed Trouble at IMDb  
  68. ^ False Paradise at IMDb  
  69. ^ Strange Gamble at IMDb