Customer Reviews

Hopalong Cassidy, Vol. 7

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The most outstanding series of westerns began in 1935 from Paramount Pictures under the guiding hand of producer Harry "Pop" Sherman...continued well into the '40s proved to be the most successful 'B' Westerns ever made...based on Clarence E. Mulford's stories, they strived in changing Cassidy's image, which was both original and influential...the hero, played by William Lawrence Boyd, was mature and generally rather inactive, and the plots also tended to inactivity until a sudden burst of climactic action in the last reel, usually a frantic chase backed by tension-building music.

In all, Boyd made sixty-six Hopalong Cassidy Westerns, early films included Uncle Ben and Windy Halliday, both played by veteran actor George "Gabby" Hayes...was a steady favorite as a hitchrack, was chosen five years in succession as one of the 10 best money-making Western sidekick stars...like most western comics, had his share of narrow escapes being thrown from his horse, burned by blanks...but that was all in a days work...his one-liners will never be forgotten..."You're dern tootin'"..."Never trust a female, they're pure poyzin"...or my all-time favorite ~ "Persnickgordy Women"...this crusty old-timer stole many a scene from John Wayne, Randolph Scott and yes even William Boyd.

In this Volume 7 we have five films of the following:

BORDER VIGILANTES (1941/62 mins/B&W)
Boyd (Hoppy), Andy Clyde (California Jack Carlson), Russell Hayden (Lucky Jenkins), Victor Jory, Morris Ankrum, Tom Tyler, Wally Wales (aka Hal Taliaferro), Britt Wood, Jack Rockwell
Hoppy discovers that the bad guys are led by the town boss, and so are the vigilantes...Lucky and California arrive posing as bad men...Hoppy sets up a silver shipment to trap the leader of all the trouble in town...gunmen look for Hoppy and Lucky is about to be strung up...what else can happen to the Bar 20 boys.

TWILIGHT ON THE TRAIL (1942/60 mins/B&W)
Boyd (Hoppy), Andy Clyde (California Jack Carlson), Brad King (Johnny Nelson), Jimmy Wakely, Jack Rockwell, Ton London, Wanda McKay
Bar 20 trio is called on to stop cattle rustling...Hoppy, Lucky and California are chasing cattle rustlers and a crooked foreman is the main trouble...Hoppy and California finally find the rustler's hideout they also find themselves prisoners...can they get free and bring the outlaws to justice, stayed tuned and find out.

TEXAS MASQUERADE (1943/59 mins/B&W)
Boyd (Hoppy), Andy Clyde (California Jack Carlson), Jimmy Rogers (Himself), Don Costello, Francis McDonald, John Merton, J. Farrell MacDonald, Russell Simpson
The Night Riders are out to scare the ranchers off their land...cause there is oil in them there hills...Hoppy assumes the identity of a wounded lawyer he found on the stage... Sam Nolan, the local territory badman knows Hoppy and when he arrives on the the scene...Masquerade comes to a sudden end and Hoppy is in deep trouble.

THE MARAUDERS (1947/64 mins/B&W)
Boyd (Hoppy), Andy Clyde (California Jack Carlson), Rand Brooks (Lucky Jenkins), Ian Wolfe, Earl Hodgins, Dorinda Clifton, Mary Newton,
Hoppy and his Bar 20 comrades take refuge in a church as a storm comes upon them...Riker arrives with his crew to tear the church down...Hoppy keeps them out, but then Riker surrounds the church and Hoppy and his friends find themselves prisoners...can Hoppy turn the tide on this one.

STRANGE GAMBLE (1948/60 mins/B&W)
Boyd (Hoppy), Andy Clyde (California Jack Carlson), Rand Brooks (Lucky Jenkins), Francis McDonald, James Craven, Elaine Riley, Robert Williams.
Hoppy investigates counterfeiting in the U.S. and Mexico as an agent for the federal government...the name "Mordigan" keeps coming up and he joins forces hoping to find the source of the bills....with the help of California and Lucky things start getting decidely more interesting...Hoppy keeps his cool as usual.

Hoppy's interaction with California Carlson (Andy Clyde) is always a shot in the arm with his down-to-earth humor and sentimentality, theses scenes are pure Americana! Boyd, with his silver hair, black clothes and white horse (Topper) rode into our lives and we've never been the same since...your children and grandchildren will enjoy this clean wholesome entertainment...Hoppy always wore two silver white handle six shooters, never drank or smoked, when the good guys always won and the moral to the story was fair-play...outstanding role model...gotta love it!

Another pick for "Pop" Sherman was a new sidekick for the Cassidy films...a newcomer Lucky Jenkins, played by Russell Hayden had his job cut out for him, with Boyd (as the hero) and Andy Clyde (California Carlson) for comedy, left the field of romance and action wide open, Hayden filled those "boots" perfectly.

William Boyd was my hero, this collection of five films are perfect, clear and give me hope for the future. Our youth should have such a hero to look up to today. Must mention the fact that I still miss one of my all-time-favorite sidekicks though, George "Gabby" Hayes, you're durn tootin'!

Paramount and Clarence E. Mulford's fictional western character Hopalong Cassidy comes to life through William Boyd as Hoppy, Andy Clyde as California and Russell Hayden as Lucky Jenkins with films from the late '30s...horse operas directed by Lesley Selander and George Archainbaud...some of the best hard riding and smokin' gunplay that ever came across the big screen from the Bar 20...just the way we like 'em.

Total Time: 305 mins (5 films) DVD ~ Platinum 21159 ~ (8/31/2004)

If you're a Hopalong Cassidy or "B" Western fan, you'll love this DVD. Over 5 hours of rip-snorting western action in 5 complete movies from the 1940s. It don't get much better than this, partner. Platinum Disc Corporation has done a great job in presenting this "Hoppy" series in 8 volumes totaling 40 films. I want more!

The quality is so good that you will think you are watching brand new prints in the best theater on Main Street in the 1940s. Actually it's probably better than that. The intro says these digital re-masters were done by a company named "US Television Office, Inc.". For goodness sake, every person or studio who has old prints TAKE THEM TO "US TELEVISION OFFICE, INC." AND GET THEM RE-MASTERED. Platinum has released 8 volumes of these Hoppy feature films and I own all 8. But for some strange reason, probably only known to some "power lunch" executive, they did not number the volumes...so you will just have to tell the difference by the numbers Amazon gives them. They are worth twice or 3 times the price. There were 66 Hopalong Cassidy films made starring William Boyd, and you can own 40 of them with these 8 volumes at a slim price.

This item arrived quickly and in good condition. The good guys always win and ride off into the sunset. Thanks to whoever restored these movies.

Hoppy never fails to provide amusement, tension and ultimately good wins over evil. The stories may be cliched but the acting is fresh. Bill Boyd (Hopalong Cassidy) can be proud of his achievements as both actor and producer of the Hopalong Cassidy series, this segment is better than some and as good as any - well worth the time and money invested.

Platinum did a great job digitally re-mastering these five black & white movies from the 30's and 40's. Sound and picture quality is very good.

Hopalong Cassidy, Vol. 7
great western fun always love watching hopalong and friend great western action ,clean fun if you are a western classic fan then you will want to buy this !

What you have to remember is that the Paramount films from the 1930s and 40s were superb in every detail, but the earliest were already released through Image Entertainment as double features (those are also on Amazon for purchase). These are the second best, ignoring the last twelve that William Boyd produced himself, which drag and are very slooowww. So slow in fact that when he edited them into TV features in the 1950s, they work better as 25 minute episodes. But overall, the picture quality is superb and so is the sound. These used to sell on VHS as single features at $14.95 each so five of them for a little more than a buck a piece is a bargain and worth the price. This company released eight DVDs, by the way, for a total of 40 of the 66 movies. I recommend you buy all eight of them.

I watched this as a child and it was comforting to know that Hopalong Cassidy was going to save the day and did it in an honest way.

Good screenplays, scripts, characters, and acting highlight these entertaining and overlooked westerns from the 1930s and 1940s. I am only going to cover the quality of the dvd presentation, which is by Platinum entertainment, on source material restored by the U. S. Television office. I was somewhat apprehensive on buying these and other Hoppy box sets by Platinum, because of the rather modest price, but after watching quite a number, I am pleased to say that the quality is quite good. If you are a western fan, and have never enjoyed these Hopalong Cassidy films, you are in for a real treat. I was most impressed by the location filming, some of which included scenes in which the Carson and Colorado railroad was featured. One last note, if you are planning to purchase any Hoppy films make sure they state that they were restored by the U.S.Television office, or some other known source.