Remaking films is not a new thing. In fact, in the 1930s and 40s, it was very common to remake films only a few years after the original. But in almost every case, there was a new cast and significant changes were made to the script. But with "Wide Open Town", the remake is incredibly lazy, as BOTH it and "Hopalong Cassidy Returns" star William Boyd and the details are sure close. If you want to know the very few differences, look at the iMDB trivia for the film.
Hoppy and the gang are following the trail of cattle rustled from the Bar 20 ranch. It leads to a craptastic town that is run by a local baddie, Belle Langtree* and her second in command, Steve (Victor Jory). They are, of course, behind the rustling as well as MANY other crimes. They can do all this because there is no law in town, as the last two sheriffs were gunned down by Belle's men. Additionally, when the local paper tries to drum up support for law and order, her men destroy the presses! When Hoppy sees this, he decides to become sheriff and it puts him on a collision course with Belle.
The only thing I really found interesting in this super-lazy remake is the casting of Morris Ankrum as the editor of the local paper. He nearly always plays the villain in the Hopalong Cassidy films and it's nice to finally see him on the side of the good guys! Apart from that, there really is no reason to see this movie if you've already seen the original. A cynical attempt to make money while delivering nothing new or of substance to the fans of the franchise.
Hoppy and the gang are following the trail of cattle rustled from the Bar 20 ranch. It leads to a craptastic town that is run by a local baddie, Belle Langtree* and her second in command, Steve (Victor Jory). They are, of course, behind the rustling as well as MANY other crimes. They can do all this because there is no law in town, as the last two sheriffs were gunned down by Belle's men. Additionally, when the local paper tries to drum up support for law and order, her men destroy the presses! When Hoppy sees this, he decides to become sheriff and it puts him on a collision course with Belle.
The only thing I really found interesting in this super-lazy remake is the casting of Morris Ankrum as the editor of the local paper. He nearly always plays the villain in the Hopalong Cassidy films and it's nice to finally see him on the side of the good guys! Apart from that, there really is no reason to see this movie if you've already seen the original. A cynical attempt to make money while delivering nothing new or of substance to the fans of the franchise.