recommended

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

A year previously, the TV movie "The Over-the-Hill Gang" debuted. It must have been successful, as only a year later, a sequel was brought to the small screen. However, in this installment, the star of the original film, Pat O'Brien, is not in the film and instead a new over the hiller, Fred Astaire, is featured along with returning faded stars Chill Wills, Walter Brennan, Edgar Buchanan and Andy Devine (who in this one has switched sides and is now friends with these other oldsters).In this installment, the four friends have left O'Brien and his town behind and learn that another old friend, the Baltimore Kid (Astaire) has been killed. However, while they are in a saloon drinking and remembering the man, they see him in the bar--an old drunk. They decide to sober him up and help him regain his self-respect. Then, when he's offered a job of sheriff, the gang work behind the scenes to help him out of jam after jam--and they try to keep the Baltimore Kid from knowing they are doing this. Eventually, however, he does learn and must rise to the occasion to prove himself once and for all.All in all, apart from another chance to see these olders and a new oldster (Astaire), the film is relatively dull and uninteresting. My feeling is that it would appeal mostly to their fans--others should probably avoid it due to a rather limp script.

Former Texas Rangers Walter Brennan, Edger Buchanan, and Chill Wills get back together in order to help their old comrade Fred Astaire, who's apparently landed in jail. Arriving, they find Astaire dead - dead drunk that is and the jailed impostor lynched. The gang decides to stick around to keep Astaire sober and out of trouble, as he gets hired on as the new town marshal.Marginally better than the first film, this still seems a little too much like a long episode of a television series. Still, the cast of veteran actors and old western stars are entertaining, especially Astaire in his first and only western.Eighteen years later, a new group of aging stars stepped into Brennan, Buchanan, and Wills' shoes for a second, much belated sequel, Once Upon A Texas Train.

With the all star cast helps to make this a good movie. It has already been mentioned that the movie was transferred from television into movie form. The transfers that I have seen are not the best, but once you get into the movie you forget to look at the quality of the movie and begin watching it.Fred Astaire plays a good part in this film. The film was made in his later years so, you won't be able to enjoy the smooth dances of Astaire's earlier movies. Still, he plays a good part as a drunk and as a fading hero. I really enjoyed the film and the parts that everyone in the cast played.Other than the old-style television viewing, I have no bones against the movie. I'd say it is certainly worth the money...and don't miss the movie before this one. "The Over the Hill Gang" is a good movie in its own right, perhaps even better than the sequel.

Low budget TV film reunites some veterans of Hollywood in a no surprise western parody. Houseman, Astaire, Buchanan and the great Walter Brennan seems to have fun doing that. So we have watching it, just for entertainment. They makes smiles at western cliches. It's the only western Astaire ever made. It's also your only chance - I think - to see him with a mustache!