The Over-the-Hill Gang (1969)

The Over-the-Hill Gang is a 1969 TV-movie Western comedy about aging Texas Rangers starring Walter Brennan and Pat O'Brien. Chill Wills, Edgar Buchanan, Andy Devine, and Jack Elam play supporting roles. The film was written by Richard Carr and directed by Jean Yarbrough.

The plot concerns a young newspaper editor who is conducting a campaign to unseat the town's "tinhorn mayor." The mayor is backed by a "gun-happy sheriff" and a "whiskey-soaked judge." The editor's campaign receives a boost when he is joined by a former Texas Ranger and "three of the fightin'-est straight shooters around."

The movie premiered on October 7, 1969, as the ABC Movie of the Week.

A sequel called The Over-the-Hill Gang Rides Again was produced the following year, with Brennan, Wills, Buchanan, Devine, and Burt Mustin reprising their roles while Fred Astaire replaced O'Brien as the second lead. Both movies doubled as a pilot for a projected weekly series, but ABC ultimately passed on the idea.

In 1971, George Allen became the head coach of the Washington Redskins and he began to acquire many veteran players to bolster the Redskins depleted roster. In reference to this movie, the Redskins were nicknamed, "The Over-the-Hill Gang."