Hopalong Cassidy Ultimate Collector's Edition

The titles and years are on each package cover, the dates are provided. But they remain seriously out of order, the list provided by others doesn't fit this selection. The oldest movies were on Disc 2. Why?The individual 14 discs are not numbered. So I numbered mine. I also noted on the paper cover which disk included which movies. The movies that were done in a series have to be watched in a series, selecting each chapter rather than just running as a whole film the way they are on the Encore Western channel. It works, but is a bother. The bonus features can't be viewed on your TV. You have to load the disk on a computer to view them, that included the comic books. You can google these movies for cast and plots, since that information isn't provided. A couple of '30s films were redone in the forties, almost verbatim.For those unfamiliar, I love the Hopalong movies! But I suggest you read at least one of the books first. Written in 1910 and then 1911 they were very popular with children, but the vocabulary is far above what a child's book would include today. Much like video games today the good guy is forced to fight. The films were based on a different level of good behavior than the books, especially drink'n and smok'n, which Hopy frowns upon in the films.WARNING! portions of some of the films are racist towards Native Americans, Chinese cooks and occasionally Mexicans. However given the age of these films, there are surprising attempts at not being racist, addressing the need to speak Spanish is a country where that is the native language, for example. Hispanics feature prominently in several movies and the characters are positive, respected and on equal with the film's lead character. Hopy really does address issues at the border with respect and on Reservations where the bad guy is always white, something the books never attempted. There are serious infractions related to terms where the parties are mixed race, and racist stereotypes especially for the Chinese cook, a repeat character in the series. Parents need to explain these short comings to children before they allow their children to watch these films. Most comic relief is targeted to California and Windy, cowboy grumugins. But these characters are also loved and valued, especially in a fight. The humor is usually based on false pride of these otherwise lovable characters. The young cowboys are also a common source of fun and ridicule, for brashness and flirtatious behavior that would not be tolerated in the 21st century. Several heros are women, trying to keep the ranch after fathers die. And a few are criminals either going straight or getting true justice (dieing in 1930 movies). There is alot of gun shooting, fist fighting and explosions. These are classic '30-'40 cowboy movies about the "old west". And Hopy shoots guns out of people's hands and never hits anything behind them. Early films from the '30s still included horse tripping, a violent effect to fall a horse that resulted in many horses being destroyed. A technique no longer tolerated. Costuming isn't particularly accurate for those period films. I do not let my grand children watch these unsupervised, as there are portions that need explaining. For example: no, you can't shoot a gun like that and not expect to hit the horse standing behind him, bullets don't work like that. Or, no when you hit a man with an oak chair, he doesn't get right back up, he might have a brain concussion. The danger of fire is actually helpful in these films as lanterns get knocked over and fires start. In at least one film however the bad guys are stopped by starting a wildfire that miraculously never harms anything. Kids need to know that isn't how fire works. However, all this said, Hopy is honest, loyal to his friends, smart and well read. He never cheats or philanders and he works hard for living and loves his horse. What a guy!Hopy is the Sherlock Holmes of the west, wearing disguises and solving mysteries. (In the books he is just a cowboy getting into fixes he has to get out of.) The guys mount up and come to the rescue after he solves the mystery and needs help rounding up the bad men.The earliest movies are better quality than the ones done later because there just wasn't the budget. Scripts etc. were better, with superior character development. A few of the actors come off below par, but not William Boyd or Mr. Hayes. They are as wonderful now as ever. For children raised on colorful animation, they aren't likely to care about them until they care about stories or horses, whichever comes first. Age 7 or 8 come to like them at the same time they learn to read the books.In today's era, the reading vocabulary is about 12. So you can read the books aloud to your children, as my father did for us, when they are younger.These films are black and white in case you didn't know. They are rated as "B" class movies and some are. But many are better than that.66 cowboy movies, it's hard to find a plot that's really new. Some eras appear with plots in the 1880 and later films appear more contemporary, if costumes are any indication, which they probably shouldn't be. There are alot of bobbed hair in these later '40 films. And telephones too. Even a car in at least one.These movies are playing on Encore/western right now, 2021. I bought these because I need my calming western distraction in the 21st century and can't trust cable to provide it long term.Thanks for having these!

You might think that Cassidy films are just for kids or for feeble old people like me who remember a more innocent time, but these are surprisingly well written, directed, acted, and photographed. Really near the pinnacle of entertaining westerns that appeal to all ages.The quality of the video is excellent, like seeing the movies in a theater when they were new.

First i will say this is an excellent presentation. I thought this was a boxed set like the Hoppy TV set it is not. What it is a compilation of 6 dvd's from 2009 and 8 dvds from 2004. The plastic boxes say 2014 and 2015. The discs say 2004 and 2009. These sets were probably sold individually at one time and now assembled with a cellophane wrapper around the 4 boxes. In any case they were digitally remastered and the picture and sound quality excellent. I noticed that in a previous amazon review it was mentioned that 4 movies were missing. Their are no movies missing all 66 are here and that Boyd's total output. Another viewer was unhappy because the films were not presented in chronological order but if the purchaser takes the 4 boxes and takes the box with the earliest films as No.l and does likewise with the other 3 you see they are near chronological . Not exactly but almost. The only negative i found was the stacking of the disk in he boxes. 4 dis'c on 1 spindle etc. I threw the boxes out, numbered the disc 1 thru 14 and placed them in a sleeved pouch.. Oh yes Bonus material includes 3 Hoppy radio shows from 195l 27 minutes each. If your a Hoppy fan you will want to get the entire radio series. The stories for the most part were who-dunnits and starred andy clyde as california carlson. Oh yes some of the newspaper strips are shown and of course the Hopalong biography. I have all the radio shows but sold most of the daily and sunday strips 5 years ago. Once again a fine offering.

From Paramount's original idea of a one shot feature version of Hopalong Cassidy back in the mid-1930's to have starred James Gleason, Clarence E. Mulford's two-gun hero dressed in black was saved from a quick death when Silent and early sound movie star William Boyd won the role. From 1935 until 1948, Boyd starred in a series of 66 theatrical features, bought rights to the films to market to TV, produced half hour Hoppy adventures for radio and TV, and solidified his image as the character by marketing Hoppy products. The Cassidy films were always a notch or two above all the series westerns mass produced by Republic, Columbia, Universal and Monogram, both story and acting wise - and the series co-starring George "Gabby" Hayes and Andy Clyde as comic relief were some of the best. I had searched for years trying to find DVD copies of all the features and finally found the entire collection at Amazon. Although the collection was not pressed in order the films were produced and released, I went to the Internet Movie Data Base, punched in William Boyd and got the titles of all in ascending order, printed them on five pages and then added the proper discs and volume numbers - and that is the way I have been watching them. Although Hoppy hit the silver screen two years before I made my debut, I did catch the last releases from 1944 on in my local theater, and then caught the first releases when they played in our foot-square TV late Saturday afternoons. Now, over 60 years later, I again enjoy Hopalong's adventures - and they are still a notch or two above the other surviving western series. Oh yes, I watch them Saturday afternoons. All of the films have been digitally restored with audio-visual enhancement making the daylight scenes bright and shiny and the night scenes rich black and white. I recommend the collection for all my contemporaries and youngsters who just love good western movies.

The product was as advertised and arrived very quickly. Thank you!

I have been away from home when this arrived. When I finally got home after 10 weeks away I was not happy when I opened the package. Firstly the spindle that the discs sit on was broken but when I checked the discs I found they were all unplayable. The surface of each and every disc was marked. I loved Hopalong when I was a kid and this left me very disappointed. I gave one star reluctantly because you have to give a rating. My rating would be F-.

Recently purchased this collection to compliment the also recently purchased Hopalong Cassidy television series collection. I was a Hoppy fan in the '50's and early'60's. It is indeed a pleasure to see movies without the murder and mayhem of to-days productions. For me [they] evoke memories of a good and simpler time. This collection is well remastered and the clarity of the movies is excellent . The collection as it is presented leaves something to be desired however. The packaging makes the discs difficult to remove and the index is misleading. Volume one of the collection for instance has five productions from five different years: (1943,1941,1947,1944 and 1940 in that order). Each successive disc presents in the same fashion. Any attempt to watch the progression of the Hoppy series of movies in a chronological order through fourteen discs is a daunting task at best. That being said, difficulties notwithstanding, what a great series of movie entertainment for one who favours good old fashioned "dusters".

This set is quite amazing. Every Hoppy film is here, and from the first entry in 1935 the print quality is unbelievable. I`m no expert but I would mark them all a minimum mark of 9 out of ten plus. I can`t understand that other products from the same company - Platinum, although good in parts are not up to that standard overall. Know where else have I come across similar quality on 1930s/40s B westerns. I hope someone will let me know if they are out there. May your camp fires never dim.

Considering the age of the films, these are a good watch of my favourite cowboy. It is a 14 disc set. Sadly the last 6 discs have no counter. That means that if you want a break part way through, then you can't as the disc will restart from the beginning when stopped and since there is no counter one has no idea where the film has got to. It is a real bind for us old-timers who can't concentrate that long but it shouldn't worry the young ones if the young are interested in them.

an excellent box set , a classic western , also wonderful remastering of picture and sound , hard to believe they are from the 30's and 40's..thanks. Billy.