Nothing on but Hoppy badges: Hopalong Cassidy, William Boyd enterprises, and emergent media globalization

Cinema Journal

Volumn 47, Issue 4, 2008, Pages 76-101

  Kackman, Michael ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 60949980348     PISSN: 00097101     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1353/cj.0.0026     Document Type: Review

References (87)

1. J. Fred McDonald, Who Shot the Sheriff? The Rise and Fall of the Television Western (New York: Praeger, 1986), 15
2. Christopher Anderson, Hollywood TV: The Studio System in the 1950s (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1994), 181
3. See, for example, Morleen Getz Rouse, A History of the FW Ziv Radio and Television Syndication Companies, 1920-1960 (PhD diss., University of Michigan, 1976)
4. Mark Alvey, "The Independents: Rethinking the Television Studio System," The Revolution Wasn't Televised: Sixties Television and Social Conflict, ed. Lynn Spigel and Michael Curtin (New York: Routledge, 1997), 139-58
5. Tino Balio, ed., Hollywood, in the Age of Television (Boston: Unwin Hyman, 1990)
6. Thomas Schatz, "Desilu, I Love Lucy, and the Rise of Network TV," in Making Television: Authorship and the Production Process, ed. Robert J. Thompson and Gary Burns (New York: Praeger, 1990)
7. Denise D. Bielby and C. Lee Harrington, "Opening America? The Telenovela-ization of U.S. Soap Operas," Television and New Media 6, no. 4 (November 2005): 383-99
8. Timothy Havens, "Exhibiting Global Television: On the Business and Cultural Functions of Global Television Fairs," Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media (March 2003): 18-35
9. Timothy Havens, "'It's Still a White World Out There': The Interplay of Culture and Economics in International Television Trade," Critical Studies in Mass Communication 19, no. 4 (December 2002): 377-97
10. Michael Kackman, "Agents or Technocrats: Mission: Impossible and the International Other," Citizen Spy: Television, Espionage, and Cold War Culture (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2005)
11. See also Andrea Esser, "The Transnationalization of European Television," Journal of European Area Studies 10, no. 1 (2002): 13-29
12. Oliver Jensen, "Hopalong Hits the Jackpot," Life, June 12, 1950, 63
13. John Reber, interdepartmental NBC memo to Ernie Theiss, September 12, 1949, National Broadcasting Company Collection, State Historical Society of Wisconsin (hereafter NBC-SHSW) Box 26.1, folder 10, Tom McFadden Papers, "Hopalong Cassidy, 1949."
14. Dan Jenkins, "King TV," Tele-Views, May 12, 1950. As early as 1949, a New York station had already run every available episode at least three times, and they recycled the episodes completely once a year
15. Letter from Ray Kelly to John Heber, "New Hopalong Cassidy films," December 28, 1949, NBC-SHSW
16. Tom McFadden papers, box 261, folder 10, "Hopalong Cassidy, 1949."
17. "Hopalong Cassidy Prices," April 1950, NBC-SHSW, Box 593, folder 25, Carleton Smith papers, "Hopalong Cassidy, 1950."
18. Russ Johnston, interdepartmental NBC memo to Tom McFadden, August 9, 1949, NBC-SHSW Box 261, folder 10, Tom McFadden Papers, "Hopalong Cassidy, 1949."
19. These distribution conflicts were especially acute with the Biow Company, a Boston advertising agency that got wedged between NBC and Toby Anguish's Television Pictures Distributing Corporation. Summarized in memo from Robert Myers to Carleton Smith, April 18, 1950, NBC-SHSW, Box 593, folder 26, Carleton Smith papers, "Hopalong Cassidy, 1950-11."
20. Letter from Hugh A. L. Halff, president of WOAI, San Antonio, to Niles Trammell, chairman of NBC, February 13, 1950, NBC-SHSW, Box 593, folder 26, Carleton Smith papers, "Hopalong Cassidy, 1950-II."
21. "NBC Television Network Hopalong Cassidy April 28, 1952 Agreement Summary,"
22. NBC Television Controller's Department, May 7, 1952, NBC-SHSW, Box 567, folder 15, Ed Madden papers, "Hopalong Cassidy, 1952."
23. Range War (1939)
24. Outlaws of the Desert (1941)
25. Fool's Gold (1947)
26. and Dangerous Venture (1947). Cutting scripts in the United Artists Collection, State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Series 5.3, Boxes 4, 7, and 9, "Dialogues, 1928-56."
27. This was roughly the same as the production costs for the Hoppy features Boyd produced in the 1940s. See Collie Small, "Old Hopalong Can't Miss," Saturday Evening Post, June 14, 1947, 163
28. William Boyd, "Bill Boyd: You'd Hardly Recognize Hoppy in these New-fangled TV Films!" in Who's Who in Western Stars (1953), 84
29. "Statement of Royalties Payable for the month ending August 31, 1950," U.S. Time Corporation to Hopalong Cassidy Enterprises. William Boyd Collection, University of Wyoming American Heritage Center (hereafter, WB) Box 35, folder "U.S. Time Corp Royalty Reports."
30. "Put America's #1 Salesman On Your Team ... Selling Your Daily Products," 1952 endorsement promotional kit, p. 4, WB Box 41, folder, "Boyd 1954."
31. "The BIG VALUE of our HOPALONG CASSIDY Dairy Program is that in almost every market the HOPPY SHOW IS ALREADY SPONSORED. This means that the companies joining our daily programs for these towns and cities GET THE ADVANTAGE OF THE TV SHOW _ BUT _ AT NO COST TO THEM." "Put America's #1 Salesman On Your Team ... Selling Your Dairy Products," 1952, endorsement promotional kit, p. 10, WB Box 41, folder "Boyd 1954."
32. William Boyd, letter to Carleton Smith, NBC, July 25, 1950, NBC-SHSW Box 593, folder 25, Carleton Smith papers, "Hopalong Cassidy, 1950."
33. American Research Bureau and Audience Research, Inc. research data, Robert McFadyen, interdepartmental memo to Robert White, September 4, 1951, NBC-SHSW Box 567, folder 16, Ed Madden papers, "Hopalong Cassidy, 1950-1951."
34. See also press release, "Program Facts," May 1955, NBC-SHSW, Box 145, folder 70, Radio Audience Promotion Files
35. "Hopalong Cassidy Sales" memo, NBC-SHSW, Box 567, folder 15
36. Ed Madden papers, "Hopalong Cassidy, 1952." Although these programs were largely marketed as a family programs, and were often sponsored by bakeries, in New York City Hopalong Cassidy was sponsored by Saks Fifth Avenue. Memo from John Heber to Ernie Theiss, September 12, 1949, NBC-SHSW, box 261, folder 10
37. Tom McFadden papers, "Hopalong Cassidy, 1949."
38. Mary Celeste Kearney, "Recycling Judy and Corliss: Transmedia Exploitation and the First Teen-Girl Production Trend," Feminist Media Studies 4, no. 3 (November 2004): 281
39. See also Thomas Doherty, Teenagers and Teenpics: The Juvenilization of American Movies in the 1950s (Boston: Unwin Hyman, 1988)
40. Eileen Meehan, "Holy Commodity Fetish, Batman! The Political Economy of a Commercial Intertext," in The Many Lives of the Batman: Critical Approaches to a Superhero and His Media, ed. Roberta E. Pearson and William Uricchio (New York: Routledge, 1991), 47-65
41. For profiles of the early development of Disney, see Janet Wasko, Understanding Disney: The Manufacture of Fantasy (New York: Polity Press, 1994)
42. Anderson, Hollywood TV
43. and Eric Smoodin, ed., Disney Discourse: Producing the Magic Kingdom (New York: Routledge, 1994)
44. Small, "Old Hopalong Can't Miss," 167
45. Jack Hirshberg, "Millionaire on Horseback," New Liberty, December 1950, 72
46. Jane Pelgram, "If Its Good Enough for Hoppy ..." Radio and Television. Life, July 17, 1949, 73-74
47. Two million U.S. kids were members of his Troopers' Clubs, "all of whom wear badges, know secret code words, and agree to be true to the principles of honesty and fair play." Dwight Whitney, "The Inside Story of Hopalong Cassidy," Coronet, December 1950, 92
48. Jensen, "Hopalong Hits the Jackpot," 69
49. Whitney, "Inside Story of Hopalong Cassidy," 92
50. "Manners and Morals: Kiddies in the Old Corral," Time, November 27, 1950
51. Sean Griffin, "Kings of the Wild Backyard: Davy Crockett and Children's Space," in Kids Media Culture, ed. Marsha Kinder (Durham, NC, and London: Duke University Press, 1999), 102-21
52. Lizabeth Cohen, A Consumer's Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America (New York: Knopf, 2003)
53. Jenkins, "King TV," 7
54. "Manners and Morals."
55. Kaarle Nordenstreng and Tapio Varis, Television Traffic - A One-Way Street? A Survey and Analysis of the International Flow of Television Programme Material (Paris: United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization [UNESCO], 1974), 12, 40
56. Letter from Paul Talbot of Fremantle Inc. to Marguerite Cherry, HCWHTC, March 2, 1955, WB Box 63, "Foreign Television - HCWHTC Contracts."
57. "Hoppy Bows on TV in Wild West Germany," Radio-TV Daily, December 8, 1958. Further documented in WB Box 63
58. Contract between William Boyd and Cirquito CMQ, September 1, 1953, WB Box 93, "Television Foreign - Cuba."
59. "Transcribed Message to the Children of the Henderson Street Public School, Glasgow, Scotland," recorded June 26, 1952, WB Box 40, folder "Boyd 1952."
60. Letter from Paul Talbot of Fremantle Inc. to Bob Stabler, HCWHTC, April 19, 1954, WB Box 63
61. Canada offered one of the first challenges due to slight differences in trademark law, requiring intervention as early as 1950, WB Box 40, folder "Boyd 1951."
62. Marguerite Cherry, letter to Phillippe Regnault, Opera Mundi, April 8, 1957, WB Box 63, folder "France - Opera Mundi."
63. Dan Grayson, memo to Marguerite Cherry, March 26, 1953, WB Box 63
64. Notification of Quitclaim, March 1, 1954, C. Huston, NBC to HCWHTC, WB Box 63
65. R. Stabler, memo to Marguerite Cherry, February 12, 1954, WB Box 63
66. Lewis Pennish, Hopalong Cassidy Enterprises, letter to Rene Anselmo, August 23, 1955, WB Box 63
67. Letter from Rene Anselmo of Fremantle Inc. to Marguerite Cherry, HCWHTC, July 27, 1955, WB Box 63
68. Martin Stone, quoted by Dan Grayson, memo to Marguerite Cherry, December 17, 1953, WB Box 63
69. "It seems there is sufficient grounds to confirm our previous analysis to the futility of utilizing a Western Hemisphere Corporation for the merchandising of Hopalong goods. With the exception of Venezuela, which has the money, I do not believe any opportunity exists to launch a program and expect compensation on its investment." Dan Grayson, memo to Marguerite Cherry, December 17, 1953, WB Box 63. Letter from Naomi Kopp of Fremantle Inc. to Marguerite Cherry, HCWHTC, September 27, 1955, WB Box 63
70. Phillippe Regnault, Opera Mundi, letter to Marguerite Cherry, February 9, 1961, WB Box 63, folder "France - Opera Mundi." Local brokers like Opera Mundi would receive a 25 percent commission on licensing fees collected - 75 percent went to Boyd. See, for example, the contract between Opera Mundi and William Boyd, May 21, 1957, WB Box 63, folder "France - Opera Mundi."
71. Daniel Thomas Cook, The Commodification of Childhood: The Children's Clothing Industry and the Rise of the Child Consumer (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2004)
72. Nicholas Sammond, "Manufacturing the American Child: Child-rearing and the Rise of Walt Disney," Continuum: Journal of Media and Cultural Studies 13, no. 1 (1999): 29-55
73. See also Nicholas Sammond, Babes in Tomorrowland: Walt Disney and the Making of the American Child, 1930-1960 (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2005)
74. By 1959, Hoppy program sales across the United States and Canada had dwindled to a trickle, and Fremantle estimated total international gross sales of $50,000-$60,000 annually for the next five years. Letter from Paul Talbot of Fremantle Inc. to Marguerite Cherry, December 10, 1958, WB Box 93, "Television Foreign Television - Fremantle International."
75. Letter from Paul Talbot of Fremantle Inc. to Marguerite Cherry, December 10, 1958, WB Box 93
76. Disney has for decades been a site of critical analysis regarding issues of cultural imperialism and global media flows, beginning with work such as Mattelart and Dorfman, How to Read Donald, Duck: Imperial Ideology in the Disney Comic (New York: International General, 1984), or, more recently, Wasko, Understanding Disney
77. Jane Gaines, Contested Culture: The Image, The Voice, The Law (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1991), 211
78. Philip Nel, "The Disneyfication of Dr. Seuss: Faithful to Profit, One Hundred Percent?" Cultural Studies 17, no. 5 (2003): 579-614
79. Griffin, "Kings of the Wild Backyard," 112-13
80. Lisa Jacobson, Raising Consumers: Children and the American Mass Market in the Early Twentieth Century (New York: Columbia University Press, 2005)
81. Avi Santo, "Transmedia Brand Licensing Prior to Conglomeration: George Trendle and the Lone Ranger and Green Hornet Brands, 1933-1966" (PhD diss., University of Texas, 2006)
82. Edward S. Herman and Robert W. McChesney, Global Media: The New Missionaries of Global Capitalism (New York: Cassell, 1998)
83. Joseph D. Straubhaar, World Television: From Global to Local (London: Sage, 2007)
84. and "Beyond Vledia Imperialism: Assymetrical Inter-dependence and Cultural Proximity," Critical Studies in Mass Communication 8 (1991): 39-59
85. Michael Curtin, "Media Capitals: Cultural Geographies of Global TV," in Television After TV: Essays on a Medium in Transition, ed. Jan Olsson and Lynn Spigel (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2004)
86. Herbert Schiller, Communication and Cultural Domination (New York: ME Sharpe, 1976)
87. Wayne Gabardi, Negotiating Postmodernism (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2000), 33-34."