The Over-the-Hill Gang Rides Again

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 first Over-The-Hill-Gang movie proved so popular on television that a sequel was practically demanded from producers Walter Brennan, Aaron Spelling and Danny Thomas. Probably only the age of the protagonists kept this from becoming a regular series. Maybe if Walter Brennan, Edgar Buchanan, and Chill Wills had been ten years younger it might very well have become a weekly series.

After settling things in Nevada for Pat O'Brien in the first movie the other three retired Texas Rangers go back to their settled lives and then they receive another summons. It's from Andy Devine who was a crooked judge in the first movie, but who now is a newspaper editor in Waco. An old friend of their's, the Baltimore Kid has been accused of a stagecoach robbery and murder. When Brennan, Wills, and Buchanan, arrive in Waco they hear the Baltimore Kid has been lynched for those crimes.

But that can't be when they spot the Baltimore Kid in a saloon looking three sheets to the wind. The Kid is played by Fred Astaire who finally got a western to his credits. He dances nary a step, but he staggers a lot.

The old Rangers sober him up the way Robert Mitchum was in El Dorado and Lee Marvin in Cat Ballou and clear the blot upon his reputation. So much so that the town offers to make him marshal. After that they have to stay around and back him up so he doesn't get himself killed. And that gang that did the robbery is still around.

Brennan, Wills, Devine, and Buchanan settle back comfortably in their parts. So does Lillian Bronson who Buchanan was about to get married to when the second summons comes. Parley Baer plays the unctuous mayor of the town and Lana Wood plays a femme fatale saloon girl with quite a scheme of her own.

If you liked the first Over-The-Hill Gang movie, no reason you won't like The Over-The-Hill Gang Rides Again.

After getting a message stating that an old colleague by the name of "The Baltimore Kid" (Fred Astaire) was about to be executed in Waco, Texas for bank robbery, a former Texas Ranger named "Nash Crawford" (Walter Brennan) decides to ride out there to see what he can do. Joining him are some of his fellow Texas Ranger comrades "Jason Fitch" (Edgar Buchanan) and "Gentleman George" (Chill Wills) who also hope to testify as character witnesses. To their surprise, once they get to Waco, they are told by an old acquaintance named "Amos Polk" (Andy Devine) that The Baltimore Kid had just been lynched a couple of days earlier and his grave is on the outside of town. Needless to say, they are quite saddened by this news and, to help ease their sorrow, they decide to head over to the local saloon to commiserate with one another. While there, they each happen to see an extremely intoxicated man who looks exactly like their long-lost comrade. And it's then that they realize that the bank robber who was lynched was an imposter and that their friend is alive and well. The only problem, however, is that the gang who robbed the bank think that Amos Polk knows where the money is and that, to get their hands on it, they to kill the former Texas Rangers in the process. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was an adequate sequel to the previous film with both Walter Brennan and Chill Wills putting in solid performances overall. Admittedly, although some of the scenes were rather light-hearted, the comedy itself wasn't very sharp or unique. Even so, it managed to pass the time well enough, and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

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.

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.