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

Produced by Harry Sherman for Paramount Pictures

Produced by Harry Sherman for United Artists

Produced by William Boyd for United Artists

Home media

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devoted to Hopalong Cassidy, U.S. Television Office, retained control of Cassidy films but, by the mid-1960s, had withdrawn them from television and sales in home movie markets.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 These remained available on that channel until 2000, when they were again withdrawn.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.

References

  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
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