The Over-the-Hill Gang Rides Again

Former Texas Rangers Walter Brennan, Edger Buchanan, and Chill Wills get back together in order to help their old comrade Fred Astaire, who's apparently landed in jail. Arriving, they find Astaire dead - dead drunk that is and the jailed impostor lynched. The gang decides to stick around to keep Astaire sober and out of trouble, as he gets hired on as the new town marshal.

Marginally better than the first film, this still seems a little too much like a long episode of a television series. Still, the cast of veteran actors and old western stars are entertaining, especially Astaire in his first and only western.

Eighteen years later, a new group of aging stars stepped into Brennan, Buchanan, and Wills' shoes for a second, much belated sequel, Once Upon A Texas Train.

We watched this back-to-back with The Over the Hill Gang ... both available on Amazon Prime. We missed Pat O'Brien from the first movie, and I'd still like to know what kept him from being in this one ... unless the budget just wasn't large enough to carry both him and Fred Astaire.

I'll have to be honest. Fred didn't add much to this picture. Although he was a good actor, they gave him very little to work with here. All the juicy lines and action fell to Walter Brennan and Chill Wills, with a bit of "can't see well" humor falling to Edward Buchannan.

And, there wasn't really an overarching story line like the original. Still, it was fun to watch the old favorites gather, and we're glad we saw it.

The top supporting actors of mid-20th century Westerns return in this TV movie sequel, "The Over the Hill Gang Rides Again." Walter Brennan, Edgar Buchanan and Chill Wills head for Waco, Texas, from their respective towns of retirement. An old friend and comrade from their Texas Ranger days is in trouble. "A friend" sent Sgt. Nash Crawford (Brennan) a note, telling him that The Baltimore Kid is in trouble.

Well, Nash rounds up Jason Fitch (Buchanan) and Gentleman George Agnew (Chill Wills) so that the former Texas Rangers can go to the rescue of one of their former comrades. It turns out that the "friend" who sent the note is Amos Polk (Andy Devine). He had been on the wrong side of the law in the first film, but turned a new leaf in that film, and now was a newspaper publisher in Waco.

The new guy in the cast of old-timers is a very familiar face to movie buffs, but someone no one would imagine being in a Western. Fred Astaire plays The Baltimore Kid in the only Western film he ever made. And, his role is very funny and much better than the other top role that Pat O'Brien had in the first film. It may be irreverent to call Astaire a "hoofer" for a career as perhaps the greatest male dancer in the history of Hollywood. But, one thinks that the agile Astaire wouldn't mind in this case, and would even get a kick out of it, where he stars in a film with so many four-legged hoofers.

The plot of this film has a little intrigue and is more interesting than the first film. And, it has a nice little twist at the end. Here are a couple favorite lines from this film.

The Baltimore Kid, "Well, I used to be able to hit the head of a nail at about 50 feet. Now I'd shoot my foot off."

Nash Crawford, after The Kid is sober and cleaned up, "Let's face it. We got a one-day reformed drunk wearin' new clothes."

With the all star cast helps to make this a good movie. It has already been mentioned that the movie was transferred from television into movie form. The transfers that I have seen are not the best, but once you get into the movie you forget to look at the quality of the movie and begin watching it.

Fred Astaire plays a good part in this film. The film was made in his later years so, you won't be able to enjoy the smooth dances of Astaire's earlier movies. Still, he plays a good part as a drunk and as a fading hero. I really enjoyed the film and the parts that everyone in the cast played.

Other than the old-style television viewing, I have no bones against the movie. I'd say it is certainly worth the money...and don't miss the movie before this one. "The Over the Hill Gang" is a good movie in its own right, perhaps even better than the sequel.

When retiring Texas ranger Walter Brennan (as Nash Crawford) learns old pal Fred Astaire (as "The Baltimore Kid") is in trouble, he rounds up three co-stars from "The Over-the-Hill Gang" (1969) for a western sequel. Still spry, Mr. Brennan finds Chill Wills (as George Agnew) cheating at poker, Edgar Buchannan (as Jason Fitch) in a retirement home, and Andy Devine (as Amos Polk) working on a newspaper. The geriatric set is stunned to discover Mr. Astaire is on a bender, but he cleans up well. This ABC-TV Tuesday "Movie of the Week" repeats the sure-fire viewer pull Brennan and his old friends still had and, in a rare appearance, Astaire shows he's definitely not ready for the old folks home.

***** The Over-the-Hill Gang Rides Again (11/17/70) George McCowan ~ Fred Astaire, Walter Brennan, Chill Wills, Edgar Buchanan