Circa 1945, a Hollywood studio intended to destroy a large number of Hop Along Cassidy cowboy movies. William Boyd asked that they be given to him (he had played Cassidy). The studio requested $25,000 now that they knew somebody was interested in the films. Boyd agreed. Now that money was involved. both sides hired lawyers & a sales contract was drawn up & signed by both parties. Circa 1951, TV became a common household item. The Hollywood studios considered TV a competitor to movie theaters & would not release any films to TV broadcasters. Lo & behold! Who had a bunch of cowboys movies not owned by Hollywood studios? Boyd had circa 40. Those movies were almost the only movies available to TV broadcasters. He made a fortune until Hollywood decided to lease or sell various films to TV broadcasters a few years later. The sales contracts signed circa 1945 gave all rights to Boyd. Had they merely given Boyd the films with no lawyers involved, they would have retained all broadcast rights. Boyd made a fortune from the TV broadcasts.
