MartinHafer The reason to see "The Over-the-Hill Gang" has very little to do with the script, as it's clichéd and a bit silly. Instead, you see it to get a chance to see some veteran actors once again...here in their twilight years.The film begins in the western town of Boulder. A nasty mayor (Edward Andrews) is making it hard for the honest newspaper man to stay and run against him in the election. This ticks off the newspaper guy's uncle (Pat O'Brien) and as a retired Texas Ranger, he decides to call in his decrepit old friends to clean up the town. But, when these guys (Edgar Buchanan, Chill Wills and Walter Brennan) arrive, they are pathetic and no match for the baddies. So, they come up with a plan--to use their wits to defeat the jerks and free the town from their grip.All in all, this isn't a very good western. The script is often silly and utterly ridiculous. The ending, in particular, is impossible to believe. But, it also isn't without some merit. Seeing these guys as well as Andy Devine is enjoyable for fans of classic Hollywood. For younger audiences, however, it probably just isn't worth your time.

bkoganbing 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.

Jennifer Sabin Review: Overall, I felt this was a decent way to spend 70+ minutes. I couldn't find a rating for this movie, but think it would probably by PG based on current standards. There was no profanity, no sexual innuendos, and the only violence came at the beginning when Jeff was roughed up by the Deputies and then again during the shoot out at the end. Even within these violent scenes, there was no blood and no one died; again, compared to today's standards, they were very tame.One minor complaint for my modern ears is that I sometimes had difficulty understanding what the characters were saying. Their old, wild-west accents didn't work too well with my modern, Florida ears.Bruce gives this movie 2 out of 5 stars. He says it was reasonable entertainment for the cost of 1/20th of $5 that we paid for the set. In the end though, this movie is rather forgettable and I agree with Bruce. It was definitely worth the $0.25 we paid to have the privilege of owning this movie.

bsmith5552 "The Over the Hill Gang" is interesting if only for its cast of veteran performers. Unfortunately they were saddled with a "B" movie script that doesn't know whether it should be serious or funny. It appears that some scenes were cut out in order to fit the film into a 90 minute TV time slot. The story has former Texas Ranger Captain Oren Hayes (Pat O'Brien) arriving in town to visit his daughter Hannah (Kristen Nelson) and her husband Jeff (Rick Nelson). He finds Jeff embroiled in a mayorality race with corrupt town boss Nard Lundy (Edward Andrews). When the baddies rough them up, Hayes decides to call on his old Ranger buddies Nash Crawford (Walter Brennan), George Agnew (Chill Wills) and Jason Fitch (Edgar Buchanan) for help. When they arrive they soon realize that their old skills have eroded with age and then decide to fight the bad guys with their wits rather than with force. Assisting Andrews in his evil deeds are Andy Devine as Judge Polk, Jack Elam as the Sheriff and Myron Healey and Bruce Glover as deputies. Gypsy Rose Lee is also along as a once famous entertainer. Burt Mustin and Billy Benedict appear in minor roles. It was great to see all of these veteran performers in one film. Most were at or near the end of their careers at the time. It was also interesting to see Rick and Kristen Nelson who in spite of their youth were also at the end of their movie careers. Too bad they couldn't have had better material to work with. Followed by "The Over The Hill Gang Rides Again" (1970).