The Cowboy Millionaire

Bob Walker and his pal Persimmon Bates, partners in the ownership of a mine at which they hope to make a gold strike, have been earning money to mine the claim by staging phony holdups on the visitors arriving at El Reposo, a vacation resort near Phoenix, to give them a taste of the "wild West." On the day they plan to quit, Mr. Nolan, their employer, prevails upon them to stage one last "robbery" on arriving English tourists. Pamela Barclay, traveling with her mother Henrietta and snooty beau, Hadley J. Thornton, an American who has been living in England, refuses to get out of the stagecoach, which Bob, wearing an outlandish mustache, has stopped. He reveals the ruse to the others, who then ride to the hotel in a waiting car and, still in his disguise, boards the stage with Pamela, hoping to drive the stubbornness out of her. Pamela is unfazed, and when Bob's mustache becomes askew, calls his attention to it. He then discloses his identity and job, which she denigrates. While driving the stage, Persimmon gets caught in a tree. Seeing that the stage is now driverless, Bob climbs to the top to slow the horses, but the door falls off and Pamela is dumped into a shallow creek. Thinking that his heroics were also part of the act, Pamela trips Bob, and when he carries her wrapped in his coat to the stage, she objects violently. In town, Bob and the townsfolk laugh as Pamela walks out of the stage in Bob's coat and wearing only one shoe. Peeved, she vows to her mother to get back at Bob and requests him for her guide. Bob refuses at first, but, attracted to her, he bets the hotel clerk that he could have her "eating from his hand" by the end of the week. Meanwhile, Edward Doyle, a promoter, learns that Bob and Persimmon's mine claim is worth $100,000 to a buyer, and offers Persimmon, who longs to visit foreign lands, $10,000 for it. Pamela attempts to humiliate Bob, but she is soon won over by him and asks him to be her guide for the rest of their stay. Distracted by Pamela, Bob tells Persimmon to make the decisions about the mine. Doyle, recognizing Thornton, talks him into buying the mine with him from Bob and Persimmon. Thornton then double-crosses Doyle and offers to pay Persimmon $25,000 cash, and they shake hands on the deal. Mrs. Barclay expresses concern to Pamela about her attention to Bob, and when Bob learns that gossip about them is spreading, he acts distant, thinking that he, as a cowboy, would not be able to give her the life she wants. The clerk then reveals the bet to Pamela, who cries. After learning that the mine is worth millions, Bob rides whooping into the hotel, but he is sobered when he learns that Pamela has returned to England and that Thornton took Persimmon to England to close the deal. When Doyle reveals that Thornton is a confidence man, Bob flies East, takes an ocean liner to England and locates Persimmon and Thornton just as Persimmon has signed over the claim. Bob fights Thornton and manages to throw the contract into the fire while subduing him. Bob and Pamela reconcile and he offers her a bet that he will marry her. She refuses to give him odds, and they kiss and embrace.