From 1935 to 1948, 66 American
Western
Western may refer to:
Places
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*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
films were produced featuring the character
Hopalong Cassidy, played in all the films by actor
William Boyd.
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
The American frontier, also known as the Old West, and popularly known as the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that bega ...
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.
The juvenile lead was successively played by
James Ellison,
Russell Hayden,
Jay Kirby,
George Reeves,
Rand Brooks, and Jimmy Rogers.
(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
Andrew Allan Clyde (March 25, 1892 – May 18, 1967), was a Scottish-born American film and television actor whose career spanned some 45 years. In 1921 he broke into silent films as a Mack Sennett comic, debuting in ''On a Summer Day''. H ...
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
Robert Charles Durman Mitchum (August 6, 1917 – July 1, 1997) was an American actor. He is known for his antihero roles and film noir appearances. He received nominations for an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award. He received a star on the Holl ...
, 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, known until 1984 as William Boyd Productions, 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
FilmRise is an American media company, headquartered in New York City, that operates a film and television studio and a free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) network. As of November 2024, the FilmRise app has reported more than 31.5 milli ...
distributes the Cassidy films for
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
under license from U.S. Television Office, which remains the copyright holder for the franchise.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hopalong Cassidy Films
Film series introduced in 1935
American film series
American Western (genre) films
Damsels in distress