Renegade Trail

Fast 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.

Gabby 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*.

Hoppy 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.

Until 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.

Fans 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.