Guns in the Dark

Johnny Darrel and his partner, Dick Martin, are in a Mexican cantina when they get involved in a brawl started by Manuel Mendez, the cantina owner, who is caught cheating in a poker game. During the fight, the lights are shot out, and Dick is killed in the dark, after which Johnny is knocked unconscious. When Johnny awakes, Mendez tells him that it was Johnny's own gun that killed Dick, but allows him to escape before the police come. Johnny vows over Dick's grave that he will never use a gun again and then returns to the United States. There, he rides into a small town and stops a gun battle between the gang of Brace Stevens, foreman of the Tincup outfit, and men riding with Joan Williams, owner of the Sundown ranch. Joan wants to build a dam at Lonesome Canyon to provide free water for the local ranchers, even though it will flood the Tincup grazing ground. The law is on Joan's side, and she ignores Stevens' threats, but still tries to hire Johnny, who refuses because he does not carry a gun. While they are talking, Mendez shows up and it becomes obvious that he has a romantic interest in Joan. After Joan leaves, Johnny sees Mendez slip Stevens a note, and later questions Joan's foreman, Pete Small, who suspects Stevens of cattle rustling, but does not know how he gets the cattle across the border. That night, Johnny meets Oscar Roscoe, an American who was tending bar for Mendez, and they overhear Mendez and Stevens plan to meet the next day. Johnny and Oscar then go to the town dance, where Mendez proposes to Joan. When Mendez guesses that Joan will not marry him because she is in love with Johnny, he tells her that Johnny killed his own best friend, and that he has proof of the murder at his cantina. The next morning, Johnny and Oscar follow Stevens' men to a canyon and discover that the land Joan wishes to flood is actually a secret road to the border, along which Stevens sends rustled cattle and Mendez smuggles drugs. When Johnny returns to town, he discovers that Joan is missing, and is suspected by Pete and Stevens of kidnapping her. As they chase him, Johnny leads them to the canyon, where he has left Oscar as a lookout, and Oscar tells him that Mendez has taken Joan to his cantina. Johnny sends Oscar to find Pete and his men, who have been led astray by Stevens, and then races to rescue Joan. Johnny arrives as Mendez is telling Joan that he will force her to marry him so that he can gain control of her ranch and get rid of Stevens. Johnny rescues Joan and a grand chase begins involving them, the ranchers, Mendez, and rangers Adams and Johnson, who have been brought by Oscar. Johnny captures Stevens and Mendez, after which Adams tells Johnny that Dick was killed by a knife, not a gun. Mendez, whose real name is Rusty Walker, confesses to killing Dick. Oscar then reveals that he is an undercover ranger and takes Mendez away. Johnny accepts a job at Joan's ranch and seals the bargain with a kiss.