[one of the first Westerns on TV, began with William Boyd's purchase of his own previous Western serial adventures for license to television, and was expanded into new adventures filmed for TV. The original library of 66 feature films made between 1934 - 48 was edited into 30-minute and 60-minute lengths for television. In 1952, Boyd produced another 52 episodes made new for TV. They wre distributed for first-run syndication by NBC Films. The character of "Hopalong Cassidy" first appeared in 1907 -- in novels written by Clarence E. Milford. Short films had been produced during the silent film era which featured William Lawrence in the title role before Boyd's movies in 1934. A supporting character actor in some of the "Hoppy" films was George "Gabby" Hayes, who later played sidekick to Roy Rogers. Hopalong Cassidy's white stallion horse was called "Topper," named after a character in a favorite book series read by William Boyd's wife. Ironically this same character would be the basis for another TV series starring Leo G. Carroll as a very proper banker who sees ghosts of a young couple. Growing up watching early TV, the "cognitive dissonance" of this very proper banker and Hoppy's horse having the same name was one of those things that was occassionally cause for pause, and proof that the world created by adults was often absurd. Actor William Boyd was born June 5, 1895 in Cambridge Ohio, and passed away on Sept. 12, 1972.] [also syndicated on radio 1948 - 1950; on Mutal radio in 1950, and on CBS radio 1950 - 1952] (Edited feature films syndicated 1948 - 1949; NBC-TV, 1949 - 1951; Syndicated episodes produced 1952 - 1954)
[ASCAP title: "My Hearts in Heart of the West"] [Verified in autobiography of Sam Coslow, who said he received many ASCAP royalty payments from television uses for this song, which was the THEME used in B-Pictures of Hopalong Cassidy.] Composers: Leslie Barton (ASCAP) [pseudonyum of Sam Coslow], and Victor Young (ASCAP) 1978 Publisher: Paramount Music Corp. (ASCAP) 1998 Publisher: Paramount Music Corporation (ASCAP) c/o Famous Music Corp. of New York, NY Copyright Dates: [none found yet...] Recordings:
[title found on manuscript in the Albert Glasser collection at the American Heritage Center of the Univ. of Wyoming; THEME also used on radio &emdash; verified by radio airchecks] Composer: Albert Glasser (ASCAP) 1978 Publisher: Amer. Academy of Music, Inc. (ASCAP) 1998 Publisher: EMI Mills Music, Inc./Old Acct. (ASCAP), c/o EMI Music Publishing, of New York, NY [based upon the start of Commodore Productions, the firm which produced the syndicated radio show...]: Composition Date: circa 1948. Copyright Date: Recordings:
Composers: music by Nacio Herb Brown (ASCAP), with music & lyrics by L. Wolfe Gilbert (ASCAP) and William Boyd (not affiliated) 1978 Publisher: Nacio Publications, Inc. (ASCAP), of Beverly Hills, CA 1998 Publishers: Nacio Publications, Inc. (ASCAP), of Beverly Hills, CA; and Rose Gilbert Music Co. (ASCAP), of Rancho Mirage, CA Unpublished Copyright Date: May 22, 1950; Eu 204 625. Published Copyright Date: July 7, 1950; Ep 48 488. Renewal Date: Recordings:
Composers: Richard Rodgers (ASCAP), and John M. Leipold (ASCAP) 1978 Publisher: Famous Music Corporation (ASCAP) 2000 Publisher: Famous Music Corporation (ASCAP), of Los Angeles, CA Copyright Date: Renewal Date: Recordings:
[melody transcribed from TV cable aircheck...may be from cues by Dave Kahn, used in the syndicated episodes 1952-54, credited in Jon Burlingame's book "TV's Biggest Hits"] Composer: probably by Dave Kahn (ASCAP) 1978 Publisher: [unknown] 2000 Publisher: Copyright Date: Recordings: