This is a cameo appearance by William Boyd, who had been one of DeMille’s leading men in the 1920s, but who is now best remembered as Hopalong Cassidy, a character he played in a long-running series of B-westerns produced in the 1930s and 1940s. Unable to find work after the studios stopped making B-westerns in the late 1940s, Boyd bought up the rights to his old films and released them to the then-new medium of television. As a result, he became one of TV’s first major stars (and also became very, very rich!) In 1951, he would have been at the peak of his popularity, which is probably why DeMille was able to offered him this special “guest appearance.” |
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Spec #19
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19 comments:
WAS lucky enough to shake hands with Hoppy when he appeared for one show in Wirth,s Tent in Melbourne in the 1950s
Robert Perry
Australia
They went way back together.
Boyd played "Simon" in DeMille's silent "King of Kings".
He bore the cross following Christ's collapse.
After hoisting it up, his expression told all, first surprise at how heavy it was and then amazement at how far it had been bourn.
Fascinating how actors could communicate without dialogue during that era.
Buckles -
They still can... you just have to listen. ~frank
Whenever DeMille was casting a picture, he was usually able to find small parts that provided at least a day or so’s worth of work for people who had appeared in some of his earlier pictures. GSOE was no exception. In additional to Julia Faye (Birdie) and Henry Wilcoxon (Gregory, the detective who arrests Buttons), other DeMille regulars who appear in GSOE include Stanley Andrews, Lane Chandler, Franklyn Farnum, Fred Kohler, Jr. (whose father had worked for DeMille), John Merton, and Syd Saylor (who was also in Clyde Beatty’s first serial “The Lost Jungle.”) Appearing as an unbilled circus spectator is Mabel Stark, whom I believe was the technical advisor during the filming of the scenes showing wild animals running loose after the train wreck.
I pity the kids of "today" that grew up or are growing up without the real heroes/role models like Hoppy, Gene and Roy who were in deed and fact men to look up to and emulate. They passed along a set of values that this poor world is in desperate need of today.
best wishes to all the "straight shooters" out there.
Paul Gutheil
For extra points: name Hoppy's famous movie horse (not that this is the original one, you understand). Think Cosmo.
Think "TOPPER"... That was a great "hint"! ~frank
Hoppy's horse was named Topper. (Boyd was not a good rider when he started making the Hopalong Cassidy films and had be to doubled extensively. He later gained some proficiency, but was never a "natural" rider like Buck Jones, Hoot Gibson, or Ken Maynard. Other cowboy stars who were considered to be good riders were Gordon "Wild Bill" and Roy Rogers.
Your clue confirmed my memory
It was Topper
Topper was Hoppy's horse. Saw him on the Cole show when I was a little guy.
Bob Good
(That should be Gordon "Wild Bill" ELLIOTT. He started off in pictures playing mostly villains. Then, in 1938, he was given the lead in a serial THE GREAT ADVENTURES OF WILD BILL HICKOK. His stern yet likeable/grim-jawed yet always in control screen character caught on with movie-goers, and he was immediately put into his own series of B-westerns. I believe he also raised quarter horses and was an important figure in the American Quarter-Horse Association.)
Another excellent rider who worked as a cowboy on television was Kirby Grant aka Sky King. He was born and raised on a ranch in Montana, as I recall, and actually was first known for his excellent singing voice and musical talent. Even though he was known for his flying acumen in his radio and then television role, which by the way was legitimate-- he was a licensed pilot, but had failed the eye test to become a pilot during WWII. Grant was practically born and raised on a horse and worked his father's ranch until he was "discovered" at the age of 19, again for his musical talents. Of course, Grant appeared as Sky King with Jack Moore's Carson and Barnes Circus from 1964 or 65 through 1970. Probably the last featured Western Movie or Television star that actually traveled full seasons with a touring circus.
Neil Cockerline, Minnepolis, MN
Kirby Grant settled in Central Florida doing PR for I think Sea World (this I could be wrong on) and was killed in an auto accident going or coming from a Shuttle launch at the cape in the early 80's
You notice that no one under seventy understood the clue.
There are still some advantages to age.
Ole Whitey, Hey Hey 69 1/2 and i knew Topper, Silver, Scout, Butterilk, and a few others I'm workin' on.
Cosmo Topper....Roland Young and
Leo G Carroll.
Was gene Autry a good rider? Nobody mentioned him.
Really appreciate your comments and the dean himself, Richard Reynolds, not to mention the Blogmeister and and.good grief thereare so many great minds out there.
Paul (39 for the 29th time) Gutheil
The wonderful British character actor Leo G. Carroll, whom I used to see around Universal, played the title role of Cosmo Topper on the TV series TOPPER. Hell, Dave, I knew that, and I'm not anywhere
near 70.
As noted, Boyd bought up all rights to Hopalong and became as rich as Bob Hope or Bing Crosby. He struck gold when Hopalong's producers, Commodore Productions, broke up over a husband-and-wife
conflict, and Hoppy was his for a song. The collapse of Commodore didn't spin its gold for Clyde Beatty, who was beginning his TV series for them at the time. The demise meant no completed Beatty episodes were ever aired, and he had nothing to buy.
Wild Bill Elliott came to Waco, Texas as Red Ryder, promoting CHEYENNE CONQUEST in person. His co-star as Little Beaver was Robert Blake, then billed as Bobby. I was still on crutches then, when Elliott called for a boy or girl to help them with the stage act. I clattered down the aisle, and was picked up by the towering Elliott, who looked to be a giant. I had one line in the very brief skit--"Red Ryder! Little Beaver! The bad guy is robbing the safe!" They threw a rope over him and that was the act. They were the first two actors with whom I appeared onstage. I still have the photo signed for me by Bobby Blake, and that's why I know he didn't shoot Bonnie Bakeley.
Sorry Whitey only 68 & counting
Gene Autry’s father was a horse trader and cattle dealer, so Gene grew up around horses and could ride. When he first got to Hollywood, cowboy star Reb Russell taught him a few of the fancy riding tricks that movie cowboys were expected to be able to perform. Of course, stuntmen did the trickier stunts, but even in his early films Gene can be seen performing running inserts filmed from a moving camera car. In at least one film, he performs a Crupper mount (i.e. a leap-frog over the horse’s rump into the saddle.) Gene’s original “Champion” was also ridden by Tom Mix in his last film THE MIRACLE RIDER. Mix retired from pictures just as Gene arrived on the scene, and he apparently bought Mix’s horses, including one that performed a routine during personal appearances. Incidentally, Gene’s horse trainer was John Agee, who had been an equestrian director with Ringling Bros.
Boy, they come out of the woodwork when you mention their age.
I think Old Whitey meant to say only those who LOOK seventy or older will get the hint.
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