Hopalong Cassidy

For other uses, seeHopalong Cassidy (disambiguation).

Hopalong Cassidy
Hopalong Takes Command,illustration byFrank Schoonoverfor the 1905 story "The Fight at Buckskin"
First appearance	Bar-20
Last appearance	Hopalong Cassidy Serves a Writ
Created by	Clarence E. Mulford
Portrayed by	William Boyd
In-universe information
Gender	Male
Occupation	Cowboy
Nationality	American

Hopalong Cassidyis a fictionalcowboyhero created in 1904 by the authorClarence E. Mulford,who wrote a series of short stories and novels based on the character. Mulford portrayed the character as rude, dangerous, and rough-talking. He was shot in the leg during a gun fight which caused him to walk with a little "hop", hence the nickname.

From the 1930s to the 1950s, the character became indelibly associated with actorWilliam Boyd,who portrayed Cassidy first in aseries of sixty-six filmsfrom 1935 to 1948, then in children-orientedradioandTV series,both of which lasted until 1952. Boyd's portrayal of Cassidy had little in common with the literary character, being instead a clean-cut,sarsaparilla-drinking hero who never shot first. The plots of the film, radio and TV series were generally not taken from Mulford's writings.

At the peak of the character's popularity in the early 1950s, he spawned enormous amounts of merchandise, as well as a comic strip, additional novels byLouis L'Amour(writing as Tex Burns), and even a short-lived amusement park, "Hoppyland", inVenice, Los Angeles.

In literature

Clarence E. Mulfordwrote the first Hopalong Cassidy short story in 1904 while living inFryeburg, Maine.He wrote the first novel,Bar-20(named after Cassidy's ranch) in 1906. He wrote 28 Hopalong Cassidy novels in all, with the last one,Hopalong Cassidy Serves a Writ,being published in 1941. Not all of these novels focused on the Cassidy character; some focused on other characters in and around Bar-20.

In 1950, while the character was undergoing a surge in popularity, then-aspiring authorLouis L'Amourwas commissioned to write four additional Hopalong Cassidy novels, this time with a characterization matching William Boyd's portrayal, rather than Mulford's writings. L'Amour wrote the novels under the pseudonym Tex Burns. Although they were his first published novels, he was unhappy with the assignment, since he preferred the original character, and publicly denied authorship of the novels for the rest of his life.

In 2005, author Susie Coffman publishedFollow Your Stars,new stories starring the character. In three of these stories, Coffman wrote the wife of actor William Boyd into the stories.

Film history

Main article:Hopalong Cassidy (film series)

Poster for the 1935 Hopalong Cassidy filmThe Eagle's Brood

As portrayed on the screen, white-haired Bill "Hopalong" Cassidy was usually clad strikingly in black (including his hat, an exception to theWestern 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.

The juvenile lead was successively played byJames Ellison,Russell Hayden,George Reeves,Rand Brooks,and Jimmy Rogers.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 producerHarry Sherman,he was replaced by the comedian Britt Wood as Speedy McGinnis and finally by the veteran movie comedianAndy Clydeas 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, notablyRobert 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 byParamount Picturesto favorable returns, and United Artists was the distributor after Paramount. They were noted for fast action and outdoor photography (usually byRussell Harlan).Harry Shermanwanted to make more ambitious films and tried to cancel the Cassidy series, but popular demand forced Sherman back into production, this time forUnited 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.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 nonalcoholicsarsaparilla.

Television

Main article:Hopalong Cassidy (TV series)

Boyd thought Hopalong Cassidy might have a future in television, so he sold or mortgaged most of what he owned to buy the character rights from Mulford and the backlog of movies from Sherman, spending $350,000 to obtain the rights to his old films.He then approached the fledglingNBCnetwork to air the films. The initial broadcasts were so successful that NBC could not wait for a television series to be produced and edited the feature films to broadcast length.On June 24, 1949,Hopalong Cassidybecame the first networkWestern television series.

The series and character were so popular that Hopalong Cassidy was featured on the cover of national magazines such asLook,Life,andTime.Boyd earned millions as Hopalong ($800,000 in 1950 alone),mostly from merchandise licensing and endorsement deals. In 1950, Hopalong Cassidy was featured on the firstlunchboxto bear an image, causing sales of Aladdin Industries lunch boxes to jump from 50,000 units to 600,000 units per year.In 1950, more than 100 companies manufactured $70 million of Hopalong Cassidy products,including children's dinnerware, pillows, roller skates, soap, wristwatches (made by Timex), and jackknives.

There was a new demand for Hopalong Cassidy features in movie theaters, and Boyd licensed reissue distributor Film Classics to make new film prints and advertising accessories. Another 1950 enterprise saw the home-movie companyCastle Filmsmanufacturing condensed versions of the Paramount films for16 mmand8 mm filmprojectors; they were sold through 1966.

Thanks to the earlier series which showed edited versions of his films, Boyd began work on a separate series of half-hour westerns made especially for television;Edgar Buchananwas his new sidekick, Red Connors (a character from the original stories and a few of the early films). The theme music for the television show was written byNacio Herb Brown(music) andL. Wolfe Gilbert(lyrics). The show ranked number 7 in the 1949Nielsenratings, number 9 in the 1950–1951 season and number 28 in 1951–1952.The success of the show and tie-ins inspired juvenile television westerns such asThe Range Rider,Tales of the Texas Rangers,Annie Oakley,The Gene Autry Show,andThe Roy Rogers Show.

Radio

Main article:Hopalong Cassidy (radio program)

The success of the television series made Boyd a star.TheMutual Broadcasting Systembegan broadcastinga radio version,withAndy Clydeas the sidekick (except for episodes 28 to 53 of the 105 episode series, when, for reasons unknown, he was replaced by several different radio actors). The show was syndicated from 1948 to 1950, then began broadcast on Mutual on January 1, 1950.At the end of September, the show moved toCBS Radio,where it ran until 1952.

In other media

Comic books/comic strips

Fawcett Comicspublished a Hopalong Cassidycomic bookone-shotin 1943,followed by an ongoing series from 1946 to 1953 (numbered #1 through 85),when the company ceased publishing.DC Comicstook over the title in 1954 with issue #86,publishing it until issue #135, in 1959.

Mirror Enterprises Syndicatedistributed a Hopalong Cassidycomic stripstarting in 1949; it was bought out byKing Featuresin 1951, running until 1955. The strip was drawn byDan Spiegle,with scripts by Royal King Cole.

Record readers

Beginning in 1950,Capitol Recordsreleased a series of Hopalong Cassidy "record readers" featuring William Boyd and music byBilly May,produced byAlan W. Livingston.

Hoppyland

On May 26, 1951, anamusement parknamed Hoppyland opened in theVenicesection of Los Angeles. This was an expansion and retheming of Venice Lake Park(opened the previous year) as Boyd became an investor. Standing on 80 acres (320,000 m²) it included aroller coaster,miniature railroads,pony rides, boat ride,Ferris wheel,carousel,and other thrill rides along with picnic grounds and recreational facilities. Despite Boyd's regular appearances as Hoppy at the park, it was not a success and shut down in 1954.

Museums

There have been museum displays of Hopalong Cassidy. The major display is at theAutry National CenteratGriffith Parkin Los Angeles, California. Fifteen miles east ofWichita, Kansas,at the Prairie Rose Chuckwagon Supper was the Hopalong Cassidy Museum. The museum and its contents were auctioned on August 24, 2007, owing to the failure of its parent company, Wild West World.

A "Hoppy Museum" consisting of a collection of products endorsed by William Boyd is located at Scott's 10th Street Antique Mall inCambridge, Ohio.

Topper's saddle is on display at Twin Cities South Trailers, a horse trailer dealership in Pilot Point Texas.

William Boyd's collection, including Hopalong's TV production materials, is archived at the American Heritage Center at the University of Wyoming.

Cultural references

In the closing chapter ofF. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novelThe Great Gatsby,the title character's father, Henry C. Gatz, explaining his son's early character, is described "...pull[ing] from his pocket a ragged old copy of a book calledHopalong Cassidy.'Look here, this is a book he had when he was a boy. It just shows you.' "

The 1951 song "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas"includes a reference to" Hopalong boots "as a holiday gift desired by children. Hopalong Cassidy is also referenced inBuddy AlanandDon Rich's 1970 top-twenty hit, "Cowboy Convention". In 1973, fellow film cowboyRoy Rogersreleased a nostalgic ballad called "Hoppy,Geneand Me ".

The 1951 comedy filmCallaway Went Thatawayis a spoof of the then-ongoing Hopalong Cassidy craze.

Heisman Trophy winner and NFL halfbackHoward Cassadywas known as Hopalong Cassady throughout his career.

In the 1985 filmFletch,the eponymous character, played byChevy Chase,jokes that he was close to buying a house until he learned that Hopalong Cassidy had killed himself there.

In 2009, theUnited States Postal Servicefeatured Cassidy as part of a series of stamps depicting early TV characters.

Further reading

• Caro, Joseph,Collector's Guide to Hopalong Cassidy Memorabilia(1991, out of print)
• Caro, Joseph,Hopalong Cassidy Collectibles.CCN Publishing (1998) – 1,300 color photos and item conditions
• Hall, Roger,Following the Stars: Music and Memories of Hopalong Cassidy.Stoughton: PineTree Press (2005)
• Kackman, Michael. "'Nothing on but Hoppy Badges': Hopalong Cassidy, William Boyd Enterprises, and Emergent Media Globalization."Cinema Journal/JCMS(2008): 76–101
• Perham, Joseph A.,Reflections on Hopalong Cassidy: A Study of Clarence E. Mulford,unplublished M.A. thesis, University of Maine (1966)
• Spiegle, Dan and Royal King Cole,Paragon Publications Presents Clarence E. Mulford's Hopalong Cassidy and the Five Men of Evil.A.C. Comics (Jan. 1993)ISBN978-1562250027(comic strip reprint collection)

External links

• Hopalong CassidyTV seriesatIMDb
• Hopalong Cassidy Music