The first of the HOPALONG CASSIDY oaters in what became one of the longest-running series of Westerns in the history of movies and made an international star of the nearly washed-up silent actor William Boyd.
Boyd, youngster Ellison, and McGlynn, Jr. try to prevent a range war between two cattlemen which is instigated by an evil ranch foreman who plays both sides against the middle and helps an outlaw gang snatch the cattle. The scheme succeeds because each side blames the other for the missing stock.
Eventually, with Boyd's help, both ranchers wise up, and they combine their efforts, sending a small army of cowboys into the gang's mountain hideout where justice eventually triumphs.
Independent producer Sherman bought the rights to Clarence E. Mulford's series of "Bar 20" western novels which featured a grizzled, tough-talking, hard-drinking, slightly crippled old cowboy named Hopalong Cassidy. When producer Sherman asked Boyd to play the ranch foreman, he refused but agreed
to play Cassidy if the character was rewritten to be a clean-living, noble hero. (The limp was also abandoned after the first few movies, leaving the name "Hopalong" something of a mystery years later.) The result was a seemingly unending string of Westerns. After 50 films, Sherman sold out his
ownership to Boyd, who saw the series to its eventual conclusion and its 1950s TV craze. leave a comment