I'm going to say this. I may make enemies and I may cause a lot of OTS (dead) celebrity bashing. In my research of for my novel about the kid growing up in the 50's I decided to invest in some Hopalong Cassidy DVDs.
Either I'm missing something or Hopalong Cassidy is the most overrated of Baby Boomer ichons. Don't get me wrong, the story behind Hoppy's rise to national hero in the 50s is interesting. I have and article from a 1950 Life magazine about him. His tightwad producer Harry Sherman was going to throw out the films in the late 40s after they had ran their course in theaters (shades of the Msihkins and Andy Milligan). William Boyd asked Sherman if he could buy the films for sentimental reasons. Sherman charged Boyd quite a bit and nearly broke him. A friend told Boyd about a TV station in LA needing something to run and suggested he take his films to them. The station ran the films and they became so popular NBC decided they wanted to run the show with new introductions by Boyd as Hoppy. Boyd made enough to buy rights to the character and market toys and other Hoppy products making him a millionare.
My problem is the Hoppy films are boring. There is only two on the tape that is interesting. The villians in these two are actually crazy. One is a character called the Proffessor who kills his enemies with spiders and the other is a drunk totalitarian mayor who kidnaps Mexicans to work in his mine. The last film also features Duncan (Cisco Kid) Renaldo, George (Superman) Reeves and Robert Mitchum.
I know the network trimed the films down to 30 minutes from 60 minutes and added wrap-arround host segments. Also, Hopalong Cassidy was about the only thing on TV in 1949 and 1950.
Before someone throws "good-old-fashion-moral-entertainment" let me add that I LOVE THE LONE RANGER (Hoppy's only competition on TV for many years). I watched those every afternoon in elementary school and have a box of DVDs that I frequently watch. There seems to be more action to the Lone Ranger where as Hoppy's films (like I said I'm not seeing these the way kids in the 50s did) kind of meander around with ample padding and dialouge.
Has anyone else had this experience with Hoppy or is it just me.
(http://www.westernposterpage.com/colorhoppy3a.jpg)
I have never been exposed to Hopalong Cassidy, and have not seen a single piece of footage from his shows. The 50's are a rough time to understand in context to political and social sanctions, so I suppose Hopalong is one of the misunderstood icons. We're talking about a time when the 1st ammendment to the Bill of Rights wasn't enough reason to keep you out of jail, and people thought the political theory of communism was going to corrupt the entire world. Plus you're right, Hopalong WAS the only thing on television at the time. Hollywood was on the decline as the Paramount Decrees broke up the majors studios and theaters, while television was beginning its upswing and threatening the superiority of the movie world. This being the first cross over from movies to television, its appeal is easy to see. As for liking or disliking Hopalong, I haven't an opinion, but such an icon demands respect. His draw on an entire nation's youth is astounding and he captured his audience like no one since.
-Scott H.
It's not William Boyd personally I don't like, it's the films are bland. However in hunting up a picture of Hoppy, I find a site which says his earlier films of the 30s were better and the ones I have from the 40s were not as good.
To understand the Hoppy phenomenon, I think one has to understand three things.
The man
Like Clayton Moore, who played the title character on the television series, "The Lone Ranger," William Boyd came across as being totally sincere, whether he was appearing on film or in a personal appearance. One actually believed, he believed in what he said.
The films
They were big budgeted for a B-western. Most of them were shot on location. And they had the right mix. A little romance, a little comedy, and alot of action. And there was alot of talent in them, both behind and in front of the camera.Actually, Robert Mitchum's first credited role was in "Hoppy Serves a Writ."
The time
As has been pointed out, it was not like today, with over a hundred television channels to choose from. If you were lucky, you had ABC, CBS, NBC, and Mutual Broadcasting, which no longer exists, and one or two local channels. And even the networks did not broadcast 24/7. They'd sign in, in the moring about 6:00 a.m. and sign off about midngiht. The local channels were even worst. Most of the time you would see only a test pattern, if you turned them on. Which made Hoppy important for us, who remember them days, and have a fondness for what we remember seeing first on television. As for many of us, Hoppy was the first thing we remember seeing, when we came home from school and turned on the set.
I guess I am comparing apples to oranges or something. I also enjoy Gene Autry and Roy Rogers films but the Hoppalong Casidy films are borring. Like I said, I may have gotten some movies from the end of the run.