For 13 films, Russell Hayden had played Hoppy's clean shaven younger partner: Lucky, and George Hayes had played Hoppy's often comical old timer sidekick: much bewhiskered Windy. After the present film, Hayes moved to Republic, after a salary dispute. There, he served as a sidekick for a number of cowboy heroes, including Roy Rogers, John Wayne, and Randolph Scott. Paramount owned the rights to the moniker Windy Halliday. Thus, Republic came up with the moniker Gabby, which expressed the same idea: that, among other things, he was a wind bag. He is generally much better remembered as Gabby, rather than Windy, because he played in more films and later films as Gabby........In this film, amazingly, Windy has been elected sheriff of the small town of Cactus Springs. The local rustlers are pleased with this, as they assume he will be relatively easy to fool.........Charlotte Wynters, as Mary Joyce, manages a cattle ranch, living with her 11 y.o. son Joey(Sony Bubb), as well as a bunk house of hands. She's a forceful women, in contrast to some the former leading ladies, who were too demure to be credible rancher's daughters or wives. Mary tells Joey that his father, Smoky, was a good man, but died when Joey was 1 y.o.. In fact, Smoky was sent to prison during that time, and has recently escaped. When Smoky shows up on Mary's doorstep, she tells Joey that he is his uncle, to spare Mary the embarrassment of having to change his father's prison uniform for civilian clothes. Several times in the film, extraordinary measures are taken to keep the secret about Smoky..........There is an incident where a rustler kicks Joey's dog away when he tries to greet him. Joey beats on the man, who then tries to hit Joey. However, Hoppy butts in. The man pulls out his gun, and Hoppy shoots it out of his hand. Mary now badmouths Hoppy as a assumed villainous gunslinger, and complains he broke her bottle of molasses. At this point, Hoppy is still pretending that he's not Hoppy. However, when Joey breaks his leg falling into the cattle enclosure, the doctor is not available. Thus, Hoppy volunteers to set his leg, apparently having experience doing such. Initially, Mary had no confidence in him, until Windy told her that he was Hoppy........Meanwhile, that night, Smoky, notorious rustler Baily, and other rustlers have a meeting about plans to rustle 1000 head from Mary, and drive them across the border, where presumably they have a buyer waiting..........When Hoppy and Mary take Joey home in a converted chuck wagon, Hoppy encounters Smoky, told he his Mary's brother. However, Smoky claims he's spent some time in Mexico. But, he doesn't know any Spanish. And, he claims he recently met a man Hoppy knew, who Hoppy says died a year ago. Thus, Hoppy has no confidence in what he says, and wants to arrest him. But Smoky says he will reveal that he is Joey's father if Hoppy arrests him. So, Hoppy backs down and leaves. Smoky then locks Mary in the tool shed and leaves........While riding with Hoppy, the King's Men, masquerading as Mary's cowmen, sing a song. Hoppy usually wanted to limit music in his films to one song. .......I will stop my narration here, with most of the exciting action yet to come.. However, I will say that Hoppy's last heroic deed involved stopping the run away horses pulling the converted chuckwagon containing Mary and injured Joey. While sitting next to Hoppy, Mary says she wants to discuss some things. Joey has been pestering her to offer Hoppy a job on the ranch, or to marry him, as he wants Hoppy to stay around. Thus, we suspect that Mary may be making a marriage proposal. But, she chickens out, and merely asks him to stay on the ranch. He emphatically says "No" ..........I thought this film was a shade better than most of Hoppy's films, thus I give it a 7 rating.........See it at YouTube.
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planktonrules7 October 2020Until very recently, I'd seen quite a few B-westerns but never a Hopalong Cassidy film. Well, after trying a few in May, I've now seen almost 60 of the 66 films....which shows I must enjoy them...at least a bit! Fortunately, the original prints were cleaned up and posted to YouTube some time ago...and apart from the Cassidy films, many of the old B-westerns have been trimmed to fit TV time slots. This is not the case with the Cassidy pictures...they are indeed complete.
Marshal Windy Halliday (Gabby Hayes) has contacted his old friend Hopalong Cassidy because he need help combating outlaws led by 'Stiff-Hat' Bailey, the local baddie boss-man. Soon after arriving, Hoppy strikes up a friendship with young Joey...and Joey is a really nice kid. As for his mother, she's running a ranch by herself and most folks think she's a widow. However, the truth is that her husband is a crook and has been rotting in prison...and she's lied to Joey...telling him that his father was a good guy. But when this jerk of a father escapes from prison and shows up, he's able to manipulate Joyce into pretending he's her brother. But Hoppy is suspicious...as the guy's story just doesn't make any sense and he knows that Uncle Dan is hiding something. What's next? And, what awful things does 'Uncle Dan' have in store? And, what will Hoppy and his friends do?
Like most of the Cassidy films, this one was filmed around Lone Pine, California...an incredibly scenic location filled with gorgeous vistas and Mt. Whitney. It's so beautiful that after seeing a few Cassidy films, I've planned a vacation to the area to see this area where about a thousand different movies were made!
So is it any good? Yes. The film has a lot of originality to it, stressed characters over action and it's pretty exciting at times. Also, something unusual about the picture is that there is some singing in it (at about the 40 minute mark) and it's very nice...and naturally NOT done by Hoppy! Overall, another excellent installment but also a sad film as it marks the final appearance by Gabby Hayes in a Cassidy film...and soon the studio would have to find a replacement. They went through several old coot sort of characters until finally sticking with Andy Clyde...the only sidekick of Hoppy's who was about as enjoyable as Hayes. -
Enjoyable Hoppy outing. This one stresses the camaraderie, love and respect between the Hoppy and his two sidekicks, old-timer Windy (now sheriff) and young Lucky. It also stresses Hoppy's great reputation for decency and competence. There is very little action (OK with me) in the first half of the movie. It is fun to hear Windy brag to a young boy how great Hoppy is and how Windy taught Hoppy and Lucky everything worth knowing. Fun also to hear the banter as the three josh each other. Hoppy shows up, but the young boy and his mother don't know it is Hoppy. The mother even tongue lashes Hoppy, not realizing who he is. Finally, there is some good humor between Windy and Lucky about the chances of the mother getting Hoppy to marry her.
The second half of the movie has the requisite action, and all ends well -
wrbtu31 May 2000Gabby Hayes' last movie with the Hopalong Cassidy series is a good one. He has an unusual role (for him) as the Marshall of Cactus Springs, & is actually fairly effective as a Marshall! There's a strong plot, good character development, & Hoppy is often not on screen. The cast is strong, especially Russell Hopton as the main baddie. Good action shots of Gabby & William Boyd (separately) riding hard. Hoppy is in his black outfit all through the movie, always a good sign. The two songs don't slow things down too much, but the main weakness of this film is the overall lack of action, for example, Hoppy is in only one gunfight. Rated 3*.
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bkoganbing17 March 2017The whole point of Renegade Trail is to prevent young Sonny Bupp from finding out his dad is not a dead war hero but a live escaped prisoner who has come to town looking for his wife Charlotte Wynters. Upon finding her he intends to rustle her cattle herd and leave her flat. Definitely Russell Hopton is one of the slimier villains ever to grace a Hopalong Cassidy feature.
Hopton might just have gotten away with it if Bill Boyd and Russell Hayden were not in town visiting their old pal Gabby Hayes who is now the town marshal. As it turns out Gabby has filled young Sonny Bupp's ears with tales of Hoppy's exploits so he already is a hero worshiper. Even if his dad were on the straight and narrow I doubt he could live up to Hoppy.
Anyway to see how this is all resolved is for you to watch this good Hoppy feature. -
bsmith555219 April 2020"Renegade Trail" was the final film in which George Hayes appeared as Windy Halliday. Many fans are unaware that he didn't adopt the nickname "Gabby" until he moved over to Republic Pictures to ride with Roy Rogers and John Wayne.
Hoppy (William Boyd) and Lucky (Russell Hayden) are riding to a hole in the wall town where their former partner Windy Halliday (Hayes) has been elected Town Marshal. Meantime an escaped convict Bob Joslin (Russell Hopton) arrives on a freight train and meets up with a former comrade Tex Traynor (John Merton). Joslin plans to rustle the cattle of widow Mary Joyce (Charlotte Wynters) and her young son Joey (Sonny Bupp). He sends for rustler Stiff-Hat Bailey (Roy Barcroft) and his gang to assist him.
When Hoppy and Lucky arrive in town, they have a confrontation with Bailey and his gang. Young Joey idolized Hoppy but does not know him on sight. His mother Mary thinks that Hoppy is one of the outlaws. Hoppy and Lucky re-unite with Windy and present him with a gift of a new gun and holster.
Meanwhile, Joslin, who in fact is Mary's estranged husband and father of little Joey, confronts her. He threatens to tell Joey all about himself unless Mary cooperates with him. Joey breaks his leg in an accident and Hoppy comes to his rescue fixing the broken limb. This impresses not only Joey but Mary as well. Lucky and Windy speculate that Mary might just be "the one" for Hoppy.
Lucky is wounded in a gunfight with the outlaws and Hoppy orders him to be taken back to the Joyce ranch. Joslin has Traynor guard Mary whom he has locked up in a shed while he goes to orchestrate the rustling with Bailey. Lucky arrives in a wagon and rescues Mary after gunning down Traynor.
Mary, Joey and Lucky flee in the wagon but Joslin catches up to them. Windy meanwhile has raised a posse and is on the way as Bailey and his gang prepare to steal Mary's cattle. Joslin holding Lucky at bay begins to tell young Joey about his former exploits. As he is about to reveal his true identity to the youngster, Lucky over powers him. Weak from his wound, Lucky is about to be shot by Joslin when Windy arrives in the nick of time.
Hoppy has herded the herd into a canyon to better protect them against the rustlers. As the rustlers advance on the small group of cowhands, Hoppy suddenly leaves and....................................................
With top "B" heavies Barcroft, Merton and Bob Kortman (Haskins) on hand, I expected a better finale than the one we received. There's no final gunfight between the two factions as was usually the case in the Hoppy series. Eddie Dean returns as the singing cowboy "Red" to sing a couple of tunes.
It looks like the producers knew at this point that Hayes was leaving because the portrayed him as having left the Bar 20 and become a marshal in a distant town. -
coltras3519 February 2024Hoppy goes to town to help Marshal Windy with some rustlers and winds up helping the widow Joyce when confidence men try to take her herd. To complicate matters, one of the rustlers is her husband - she told her son that his father's dead instead of saying he's working on a chain gang - and Joyce doesn't want her son to know that he isn't a war hero as she told him.
There's a scene in this Hoppy entry where Hoppy and Lucky gift Gabby Hates with a gun belt and Gabby looks moved - the whole scene is sort of a poignant goodbye to the grizzly sidekick as this is his last appearance in a Hoppy western, and a fairly leisurely paced one. It has a gradual build-up, setting up the bad guys and their plans in the first twenty minutes before the gun smoke blooms. Well, not too much of it. It isn't packed with action (only a modicum amount) but has a good story and plot. -
funkyfry29 October 2002Fast but predictable Hopalong Cassidy flick lasts only 50-some minutes but of course pays off with some fistfights, gunfights, pretty girls in tight period costumes, and back clad hero Boyd, plus a foursome of singing cowboys. Standard Saturday morning fare for the ten years olds of yesteryear.
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dougdoepke18 June 2023Fans looking for lots of Hoppy action may be disappointed. The usual cowboy hard-riding and fast-shooting really don't pick up til the end. Then it's crash-bang buckboard style along the great rocky slopes of the eastern Sierras, along with an impressive herd of groaning cattle. In the meantime, there's entertaining byplay between Hoppy, his pals, and little Sonny Bupp, but Fuzzy's not as wacky as usual since he plays the town Marshal, that's right, the town Marshal. Then too, there's actress Wynters who's more than just eye-relief for us guys. Instead she's an integral part of the plot and sees a lot of action-I hope she got paid double. To me the real downside was the plot, mainly Wynters' ex-husband (Hopton) who schemes to rustle her cattle and undo her as Bupp's mother. Maybe it's just me, but I really tried to connect those underwritten dots. Anyway, there's always Hoppy with his easy smile, hardy guffaw, and fast gun. So you might give the scenic flick a try.