Surprisingly incoherent and boring

just watch it!

Gripping story with well-crafted characters

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

When newspaperman and mayoral candidate Ricky Nelson finds himself the target of his crooked rivals, father-in-law Pat O'Brien gives a call to his old partners in the Texas Rangers, Walter Brennan, Edger Buchanan, and Chill Wills. The only problem is that they're all old as dirt and very rusty when it comes to their law-enforcement skills, making them a laughing stock, but not for long.Although this has a great concept, it's a little too tongue-in-cheek and devoid of action most of the time. Then again, how much action can you expect from a group of elderly actors? Still, the climax is decent.A great cast, also including Jack Elam, Andy Devine, and Gypsy Rose Lee (who died soon after), helps make this made-for-television movie way more entertaining than it otherwise would have been.The next year brought a somewhat superior sequel, followed nineteen years later by a second, Once Upon A Texas Train, in which Elam replaced Buchanan.

I do love both of the Over-The-Hill Gang movies mainly because you will never get a chance to see so many scene stealing character actors in one film no matter how hard you look. All these familiar faces, familiar in mostly westerns. I'm betting these guys didn't appear together for the most part before now because it was impossible to have had that much ham in any one film.Yet comedy director Jean Yarbrough took a chance. So did Walter Brennan who co-produced this along with Danny Thomas and Aaron Spelling. I guess Brennan was not afraid to show his acting chops against some of his fellow best scene stealers.Pat O'Brien is a former Texas Ranger captain who is retired and visiting his daughter and son-in-law, Kris and Ricky Nelson. Ricky is the editor of the town newspaper who's running for mayor against crooked Edward Andrews the incumbent. Andrews has sheriff Jack Elam and judge Andy Devine in his pocket and pretty well runs things in that Nevada town. After the sheriff and a few thug deputies beat up Ricky, O'Brien summons some of his most trusted former Rangers to action.The problem is that neither O'Brien nor his former company members have seen much action recently. The other Rangers are Brennan, Chill Wills, and Edgar Buchanan. Looking at the cast of this film, it's got to be one of the oldest aggregate casts ever assembled. And all of these guys stole more scenes from more stars than any other group you could put together. Gypsy Rose Lee is even on hand as a saloon owner and rival of Andrews who wants to see him put out of business because he gives honest folks like herself a bad name.This is a film to be treasured and savored by lovers of westerns and those who just love great character actors.

In the modernizing old west, idealistic young married Ricky Nelson (as Jeff Rose) wants to become mayor of his corrupt town. Wife Kris Nelson (as Hannah Rose) is concerned about Mr. Nelson, especially after he gets beat up; to help the Nelsons, her elderly grandfather Pat O'Brien (as Oren Hayes) summons his old Texas Rangers: Walter Brennan (as Nash Crawford), Edgar Buchanan (as Jason Fitch), and Chill Wills (as George Agnew). Then, "The Over-the-Hill Gang" faces off against the less long-in-the-tooth gang led by Mayor Edward Andrews (as Nard Lundy), Judge Andy Devine (as Amos Polk), and Sheriff Jack Elam (as Clyde Barnes). Former burlesque tease Gypsy Rose Lee (as Cassie) provides the old-timers with considerable feminine support; it was her last screen appearance. The ordinary production scores points for casting and story idea, qualities which guaranteed a fair level of success on television. **** The Over-the-Hill Gang (10/7/69) Jean Yarbrough ~ Walter Brennan, Pat O'Brien, Ricky Nelson, Chill Wills

If you have a choice of watching only one Western and want to catch a corral full of great character actors of the genre, this would be a good choice. Not so much for the story, but just to get to see Walter Brennan, Edgar Buchanan, Chill Wills, and Andy Devine all in one picture, with a little help from Edward Andrews, Jack Elam and Myron Healey. It might be pretty close to one hundred percent accurate to say that one of these guys appeared in almost every Western made during the '50's and '60's. The puzzler is having Pat O'Brien in charge of the good guys; I can't recall a single other Western he might have appeared in. The other interesting casting decision places Mr. and Mrs. Rick Nelson at the center of the story, with Rick's character Jeff Rose challenging crooked Mayor Lundy (Andrews) in the upcoming election.The story winds up fairly predictable, made somewhat interesting by Nash Crawford's (Brennan) idea to pit the bad guys against each other via insinuation and innuendo. It was a little too convenient with Jack Elam's deputies knocking each other off, with Mayor Lundy and Tucker (Healey) skipping town when things got a bit heated. A little more thought could have gone into the story to come up with a more dramatic showdown between heroes and villains, but considering their ages, I'd say the good guys probably needed a pass just to finish the picture.Not a lot of substance here, but for a good old fashioned story one could do worse. It's got a pretty good balance of humor amid the skulduggery, and old time fans of TV and movie Westerns will get a kick out of seeing all the Rangers in one place at one time. Brazos!