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Archive for the ‘George “Gabby” Hayes’ Category

Blu-Ray News #402: Hopalong Cassidy – The Legacy Collection, Volume 2 (1936).

Posted in ClassicFlix, DVD/Blu-Ray News, George "Gabby" Hayes, Hopalong Cassidy, Howard Bretherton, Paramount, William Boyd on April 25, 2026| 4 Comments »

The first volume of the Hopalong Cassidy Legacy Collection was a real Cadillac. ClassicFlix has announced that the second volume is on the way.

This time, we’ll get the first three Hoppy pictures from 1936. All three were directed by Howard Bretherton and shot by the great Archie Stout.

Call Of The Prairie (1936)
Directed by Howard Bretherton
Starring William Boyd, James Ellison, Muriel Evans, George “Gabby” Hayes, Chester Conklin

When Johnny (James Ellison) is framed for robbery and a shooting, and it’s up to Hoppy to set things right. George Hayes is one of the bad guys in this one.


Three On The Trail (1936)
Directed by Howard Bretherton
Starring William Boyd, James Ellison, Onslow Stevens, Muriel Evans, George “Gabby” Hayes, Claude King

Though George Hayes was already a fixture of the series, Three On The Trail was the first time he played Windy Halliday. Hayes (and Windy) left the series in 1939, with Hayes moving to Republic.

This one has a gang of rustlers doing stage holdups as their side hustle, giving Hoppy twice as much justice to deliever.

Heart Of The West (1936)
Directed by Howard Bretherton
Starring William Boyd, James Ellison, George “Gabby” Hayes, Sidney Blackmer, Lynn Gabriel, Fred Kohler

Hoppy, Johnny and Windy get caught up in a range war. The big stampede sequence (complete with dynamite) is terrific.

The Hopalong Cassidy pictures turned the B Western on its ear. The budgets are bigger, the writing an acting are better, the locations and photography are incredible — and the “trio western” was established with William Boyd, James Ellison and George (not yet “Gabby”) Hayes.

Of course, Poverty Row was still cranking out three-day cowboy movies, but the Hoppy pictures were something different. They played large, first-run theaters in places that would turn their nose up at a Bob Steele or Tom Tyler movie.

ClassicFlix hasn’t set a release date for Volume 2 — just “later this year.” The list of extras, and there will be plenty of them, hasn’t been nailed down. I’ll update this when those announcements are made. Of course, the three features will look like a million bucks.

I’m sure this second Blu-Ray set will be just as nice as Volume 1 — and every bit as essential. Can’t wait!

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Blu-Ray News #400: The Texas Rangers (1936).

Posted in DVD/Blu-Ray News, Fred MacMurray, George "Gabby" Hayes, Kino Lorber, Paramount on April 16, 2026| 4 Comments »

Directed by King Vidor
Starring Fred MacMurray, Jack Oakie, Jean Parker, Lloyd Nolan, Edward Ellis

Kino Lorber’s bring The Texas Rangers (1936) to Blu-Ray in June. It had been ages since I’d seen it, and I was really impressed with it — the scope of it and some of the stunt work. There’s a horse fall at the end that’s really something.

This was Fred MacMurray’s first Western, in a part originally meant for Gary Cooper. Of course, in the 50s, MacMurray made a couple of my favorites. I’m not a big Jack Oakie fan, but he’s really good here. Jean Parker is cute as a bug. And George “Gabby”Hayes has a great part as a judge (this was around the same time he was doing the first Hopalong Cassidy pictures).

The transfer is stunning. And it’ll have two commentaries: one by Max Allan Collins and Heath Holland, and a second from some clod named Toby.

It’s easy to recommend the King Vidor The Texas Rangers. Would love to see the 1951 Phil Karlson one, too.

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Talking Hoppy On Cereal At Midnight.

Posted in ClassicFlix, George "Gabby" Hayes, Hopalong Cassidy, Howard Bretherton, Paramount, Podcasts, William Boyd on August 13, 2025| 10 Comments »

Had a blast recently talking with Heath Holland over at Cereal At Midnight about the new Hopalong Cassidy set from ClassicFlix — and B Westerns in general.

Click on the image and off you go!

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Blu-Ray Quasi-Review: Hopalong Cassidy – The Legacy Collection, Volume 1 (1935).

Posted in ClassicFlix, DVD/Blu-Ray Reviews, George "Gabby" Hayes, Hopalong Cassidy, Howard Bretherton, Paramount, William Boyd on July 26, 2025| 14 Comments »

I’m not comfortable reviewing things I had something to do with. But this set is just too nice to ignore.

CassicFlix has launched their Hopalong Cassidy Blu-Ray series with the first three Cassidy pictures — Hop-Along Cassidy, The Eagle’s Brood and Bar 20 Rides Again (all 1935, all directed by Howard Bretherton and shot by Archie Stout). They’re fully restored and look like a million bucks. All come from 35mm, though two 16mm prints of The Eagle’s Brood were recruited to supplement the picture’s incomplete 35mm material — with terrific results.

Of course, the films themselves are a real notch above the typical B Western in every possible way.

Extras include two commentaries (one from yours truly), a trailer for The Eagle’s Brood and a really lovely “mini-documentary,” William Boyd – Becoming Hopalong Cassidy. I worked on the script and was still blown away by the finished piece.

There are 66 Hoppy pictures, so let’s hope this first volume is followed by 21 more (if my math is right). Highly, highly recommended. Nah, come to think of it, make it “essential!”

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Blu-Ray News #391: Hopalong Cassidy – The Legacy Collection, Volume 1 (1935).

Posted in ClassicFlix, DVD/Blu-Ray News, George "Gabby" Hayes, Hopalong Cassidy, Paramount, Paul Fix, William Boyd on May 22, 2025| 4 Comments »

Coming in July from ClassixFlix, Hopalong Cassidy – The Legacy Collection, Volume 1 presents the first three Hopalong Cassidy pictures from 1935 (Hop-Along Cassidy, The Eagle’s Brood and Bar 20 Rides Again), newly restored and packed with bonus features:
• Audio commentary by Ed Hulse on Hop-Along Cassidy
• Audio commentary by Toby Roan on Bar 20 Rides Again
• William Boyd – Becoming Hopalong Cassidy mini-documentary
• Hopalong In Hoppyland short showcasing opening day at William Boyd’s 80-acre theme park
• Bonus reels (no sound) – Stock footage, outtakes & behind the scenes footage from the Hopalong Cassidy Film Archive
• The Eagle’s Brood original theatrical trailer
• Image Gallery

This has been in the works for a while, and it’s gonna really be something. And remember, if we all buy this one, there will be more!

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The Exhibitor, 1950.

Posted in 1950, Charles Starrett, Gene Autry, George "Gabby" Hayes, Hopalong Cassidy, Randolph Scott, Roy Rogers, The Durango Kid, Tim Holt, William Boyd on February 17, 2023| 3 Comments »

We looked at Exhibitor magazine’s top cowboy stars for 1951 a while back. Here’s the 1950 list.

By the way, this was the year that Gabby Hayes left theaters with the Randolph Scott picture The Caribou Trail.

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The Exhibitor, 1951.

Posted in 1951, Gene Autry, George "Gabby" Hayes, Rex Allen, Roy Rogers, Tim Holt, William Boyd on January 12, 2023| 24 Comments »

Exhibitor magazine’s top cowboy stars for 1951. Not a bad batch.

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Merry Christmas!

Posted in George "Gabby" Hayes on December 25, 2022| 19 Comments »

Here’s a spread from the book Gabby Hayes — Tall Tales For Little Folks from 1954, with Gabby as Santa Claus.

Here’s wishing all you young whipper snappers the merriest of Christmases — and a Happy Hanukkah (it’s got a couple days left).

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Been Waiting For Something To Shake Loose On These!

Posted in ClassicFlix, DVD/Blu-Ray News, George "Gabby" Hayes, George Archainbaud, Hopalong Cassidy, Lesley Selander, Paramount, United Artists, William Boyd on December 13, 2022| 9 Comments »

From the ClassicFlix newsletter: “We have several major projects underway, the largest at the moment is restoration of all 66 Hopalong Cassidy feature films… The first three films in the series are Hop-A-long Cassidy, The Eagle’s Brood and Bar 20 Rides Again (all 1935).”

This is wonderful news. I can’t wait. More news to follow.

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DVD Review: The Roy Rogers Happy Trails Collection.

Posted in 1950, 1951, Dale Evans, DVD/Blu-Ray Reviews, George "Gabby" Hayes, Joe Kane, Mill Creek Entertainment, Penny Edwards, Republic Pictures, Sons Of The Pioneers, William Witney on March 14, 2019| 5 Comments »

Mill Creek’s new four-disc set, The Roy Rogers Happy Trails Collection, gathers up 20 Rogers pictures spanning his entire career, and presents most of them in the same unfortunate condition we’ve seen before. However, the set does have its advantages.

Here are the Rogers movies you get:
Young Bill Hickok (1940)
Sons Of The Pioneers (1941)
Cowboy And The Senorita (1944)
Sunset In El Dorado (1945)
Don’t Fence Me In (1945)
Man From Oklahoma (1945)
Along the Navajo Trail (1945)
Rainbow Over Texas (1946)
Down Dakota Way (1949)
The Golden Stallion (1949)
Susanna Pass (1949)
North Of The Great Divide (1950)
Trigger, Jr. (1950)
Trail Of Robin Hood (1950)
Bells Of Coronado (1950)
Twilight In The Sierras (1950)
Spoilers Of The Plains (1951)
South Of Caliente (1951)
In Old Amarillo (1951)
Pals Of The Golden West (1951)

Many of these are from the later period, when William Witney was packing these things with action — and shooting some in Trucolor. They also had longer running times, which is where we run into trouble. Trail Of Robin Hood (1950), for instance, runs 67 minutes. In this set, it runs just 63 minutes and that includes the Happy Trails Theatre introduction. So it’s fair to say that up to 10 minutes of the film is gone. This pattern continues throughout, with the damage depending on how long or short each movie was originally. Young Bill Hickok runs under an hour, so it might not have too much missing. Cowboy And The Senorita (1944), Roy and Dale’s first film together is the odd man out. It does not have an introduction, and it runs its full 77 minutes. Looks pretty good, too.

There are a few supplemental videos, some of them from the Roy Rogers Museum, which are nice to have — especially since the museum is no more, and it’s about as close to a tour as we’re gonna get anymore.

Some of these films are available elsewhere uncut. (Trigger, Jr. from Kino Lorber is incredible.) Wouldn’t it be great to have them complete with the introductions included as an extra, the way the Gene Autry pictures are done? I’m dying for a full-length Spoilers Of The Plains.

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