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actual 9.5mm film frame


T.9784 (7 reel 9.5mm sound release by Pathéscope January 1960)
      (the last ever 9.5mm optical sound feature film release)  
"DOOMED CARAVAN"              USA 10Jan1941    Dir: Lesley Salander
----------------              Harry Sherman Productions
62mins B/W Cert "U"           Produced by: Harry Sherman
(Approx 58mins on 9.5mm)      Distributed by: Paramount Pictures
Filmed on location at Kelso Canyon & Kernville, California, USA
Story by: Clarence E. Mulford
Screenplay by: J. Benton Cheney, Johnston McCulley
Photography by: Russell Harlan
Editing by: Carroll Lewis, Sherman A. Rose
Music by: John Leipold        Sound: Charles Althouse
   William Boyd    Minna Gombell
Cast:   William Boyd .......... Hopalong Cassidy
        Russell Hayden ........ Lucky Jenkins
        Andy Clyde ............ California
        Minna Gombell ......... Jane Travers
        Morris Ankrum ......... Stephen Westcott
        Georgia Ellis ......... Diana Westcott (as Georgia Hawkins)
        Trevor Bardette ....... Ed Martin
        Pat J. O'Brian ........ Henchman Jim Ferber
        Ray Bennett ........... Henchman Pete Gregg (as Raphael Bennett)
        José Luis Tortosa ..... Governor Don Pedro
        Edward Cassidy, Henry Willis
Outlaws try to wipe out the Crescent City Freighting Company, but are driven
off after a fierce gun battle.  A squad of Army Cavalry sent to give protection
are massacred by the renegades who then impersonate the soldiers.  Hopalong
Cassidy foils their plans and later unmasks their mystery leader.               
 Cinema poster

 
  Watch "Doomed Caravan" full length on You Tube 

Notes: 1. The 32nd entry in the series of 66 Hopalong Cassidy western feature
          films starring William Boyd.  

       2. The last 9.5mm optical sound title to be released by Pathéscope.  It
          had been announced in their 1959 Film Catalogue for Nov/Dec 1959 sale,
          but printing did not start until 12th January 1960. Later in that year
          the company went into receivership.  The Pathéscope Register records
          that only three prints were made. Each was mounted on two 1000ft reels.
          (In the April 1996 issue of "Flickers" magazine, Pat Moules wrote an
          article trying to identify who owns those three copies)
       3. Pathéscope weakened the impact of the film by completely omitting the
          exciting opening sequence - around five minutes of a gun battle.  (The
          quickest and simplest way of reducing the running time to 7 9.5mm reels) 
       4. Location work was at Lone Pine in California and shot 'back to back'
          with "In Old Colorado" (also on 9.5mm as T.9727) The street scenes were
          filmed at Kernville. During shooting, Boyd broke his leg in two places.
          Jumping down from his horse (Topper), the heel of his boot hit a stone
          causing the ankle to  roll over.  The bone splintered just above the 
          ankle and snapped in two.  The actor, in great pain, was rushed to 
          surgery and there was an immediate operation.  Production was delayed
          for six months to allow the star to recover.
       5. Johnston McCulley was a prolific writer, mainly of detective stories,
          adventures and westerns.  His most famous creation was "Zorro".
       6. The 9.5mm print starts not with the opening 35mm credits, but the title
          card shown at the top of this page.  Although Pathéscope often remade
          the titles in the early days of 9.5mm sound, it was unusual for a post
          war release.  The style was in line with that used on the credits for
          the Cassidy silents released by Pathescope in the Fifties. 
       7. The Pathéscope 35mm master was later used for a Super 8mm magnetic sound
          release of the film by Derann Films.  The initial Super 8mm release was
          the same as the 9.5mm version.  Later the missing footage was located 
          and the film then re-released on Super 8mm complete but still bearing
          the Pathéscope main title.
       
(Extra Info gratefully added from Maurice Trace)       ZT-9784/gln/12.11.2013

Return to: 9.5MM PATHESCOPE SOUND FILM CATALOGUE ........... ALPHA .......... NUMERIC


Created 12Nov2013 ...... Last updated: 17 September 2017 ...... 95flmcatt9784.htm ......©MMX111 Grahame L. Newnham