"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.
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.