HOP-ALONG CASSIDY (1935)

HOP-ALONG CASSIDY (reissued as Hopalong Cassidy Enters) is a 1935 American Western film that features the character Hop-Along Cassidy created by writer Clarence E. Mulford. This is the first of 66 Hopalong Cassidy films produced between 1935 and 1948 and all starring William Boyd in the title role. William Boyd was originally offered the role of Buck Peters, the ranch foreman, but he decided to take the role of Hop-Along instead.

Plot
A ranch foreman tries to start a range war by playing two cattlemen against each other whilst helping a gang rustle their cattle. Each of the cattlemen blames the other for stealing their cattle. Hop-Along Cassidy, played by William Boyd, having been shot in an earlier gunfight, (which results in his trademark hop), uses an altered cowhide brand to discover the real rustlers. The cattlemen join forces with Hop-Along to bring the rustlers to justice.

Cast
William Boyd - Bill "Hop-Along" Cassidy
James Ellison - Johnny Nelson
Paula Stone - Mary Meeker
George Hayes - Uncle Ben
Kenneth Thomson - "Pecos" Jack Anthony
Frank McGlynn Jr. - Red Connors
Charles Middleton - Buck Peters
Robert Warwick - Jim Meeker

As portrayed on the screen, white-haired Bill "Hopalong" Cassidy was usually clad strikingly in black (including his hat, an exception to the Western film stereotype that only villains wore black hats). He was reserved and well spoken, with a sense of fair play. He was often called upon to intercede when dishonest characters took advantage of honest citizens. "Hoppy" and his white horse, Topper, usually traveled through the West 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, 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 movie 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.

The 66 Hopalong Cassidy pictures were filmed by independent producers who released the films through the studios. The first "Hoppies", as the films were known, were distributed by Paramount Pictures to favorable returns, and United Artists was the distributor after Paramount. They were noted for fast action and outdoor photography (usually by Russell Harlan). Harry Sherman wanted to make more ambitious films and tried to cancel the Cassidy series, but popular demand forced Sherman back into production, this time for United Artists. Sherman gave up the series in 1944, but Boyd wanted to keep it going, and ended up co-producing 12 more films himself, from 1946 to 1948, now with lower budgets.[4] The film series finally ended as "B" westerns were being phased out.

In the first film, Hopalong Cassidy (then spelled "Hop-along") got his name after being shot in the leg. Hopalong's "drink of choice" was the nonalcoholic sarsaparilla.