"Santa Fe Marshal" was an unusual entry in the Hopalong Cassidy series in that star William Boyd is not seen in his traditional all black outfit throughout the entire movie.
A series of payroll robberies have been occurring in a dusty old town involving a silver mine owned by John Gardner ((Jack Rockwell). Gardner is not satisfied with the Town Marshal's (Eddie Dean) efforts to catch the crooks. He decides to send for a marshal from Santa Fe. Guess who?
Hoppy (William Boyd) is coming to town dressed in his best Sunday go to meetin' clothes. On the way he runs into a medicine show wagon that has lost a wheel. He stops to help. The owner is a blustery fast talking con man Doc Tate (Earle Hodgins) and his feisty daughter Paula (Bernadine Hayes). Hoppy sees an opportunity to work undercover as a member of the travelling show as a mind reader called, now get this, Marvello.
At the evening performance where "Marvello" is reading minds, a brawl breaks out and the wagon damaged. Kindly old grandmotherly Ma Burton (Marjorie Rambeau) invites the company to stay at her home while the wagon is repaired. Ma it turns out, is the brains behind the bandits and is suspicious of "Bill Cassidy". Cassidy is also suspicious of Ma and her men Blake (Kenneth Harlan), Flint (William Pagan) and Tex Barnes (George Anderson).
Hoppy plans to set a trap for the outlaws. Together with Gardner, they plan to lure Ma and her boys into stealing a cache of silver from Gardner's mine. Unfortunately, Lucky, who has been acting as the marshal in Hoppy's place, blows Hoppy's cover by disclosing his real identity to Ma.
Ma and her men overpower Hoppy, Gardner and a guard, tie them up and set Gardner's shack on fire. Luckily, Lucky is nearby and rescues them in the nick of time. Hoppy apprehends Ma and Flint as they are unloading the silver at Ma's house. Blake and Barnes flee to Barnes' ranch but Hoppy and the miners head there as well. They capture Barnes men, However Barnes and Blake have taken over the medicine wagon and locked Doc, Paula and Axel (Brit Wood) their driver inside. They flee and Hoppy pursues them and.......................
Rambeau makes an unusual villain as the kindly old grandma. Her capture though is a little anti climatic with little on no resistance. Boyd seemed to enjoy stepping out of character and donning a disguise. There is no third member of the trio since a replacement for George"Windy"Halliday had not yet been found. Hodgins who made several appearances in the series an Brit wood provide what little comedy relief there is. And.........guess who gets the girl?
A series of payroll robberies have been occurring in a dusty old town involving a silver mine owned by John Gardner ((Jack Rockwell). Gardner is not satisfied with the Town Marshal's (Eddie Dean) efforts to catch the crooks. He decides to send for a marshal from Santa Fe. Guess who?
Hoppy (William Boyd) is coming to town dressed in his best Sunday go to meetin' clothes. On the way he runs into a medicine show wagon that has lost a wheel. He stops to help. The owner is a blustery fast talking con man Doc Tate (Earle Hodgins) and his feisty daughter Paula (Bernadine Hayes). Hoppy sees an opportunity to work undercover as a member of the travelling show as a mind reader called, now get this, Marvello.
At the evening performance where "Marvello" is reading minds, a brawl breaks out and the wagon damaged. Kindly old grandmotherly Ma Burton (Marjorie Rambeau) invites the company to stay at her home while the wagon is repaired. Ma it turns out, is the brains behind the bandits and is suspicious of "Bill Cassidy". Cassidy is also suspicious of Ma and her men Blake (Kenneth Harlan), Flint (William Pagan) and Tex Barnes (George Anderson).
Hoppy plans to set a trap for the outlaws. Together with Gardner, they plan to lure Ma and her boys into stealing a cache of silver from Gardner's mine. Unfortunately, Lucky, who has been acting as the marshal in Hoppy's place, blows Hoppy's cover by disclosing his real identity to Ma.
Ma and her men overpower Hoppy, Gardner and a guard, tie them up and set Gardner's shack on fire. Luckily, Lucky is nearby and rescues them in the nick of time. Hoppy apprehends Ma and Flint as they are unloading the silver at Ma's house. Blake and Barnes flee to Barnes' ranch but Hoppy and the miners head there as well. They capture Barnes men, However Barnes and Blake have taken over the medicine wagon and locked Doc, Paula and Axel (Brit Wood) their driver inside. They flee and Hoppy pursues them and.......................
Rambeau makes an unusual villain as the kindly old grandma. Her capture though is a little anti climatic with little on no resistance. Boyd seemed to enjoy stepping out of character and donning a disguise. There is no third member of the trio since a replacement for George"Windy"Halliday had not yet been found. Hodgins who made several appearances in the series an Brit wood provide what little comedy relief there is. And.........guess who gets the girl?