Gun Belt

Inmate Matt Ringo escapes from the Arizona Territorial Prison with the help of gunmen Dixon, Hoke and Kolloway, and they head for the Snake Skin Mine near Tombstone. There they meet mine owner Douglas Frazer, who wants Matt to enlist his brother Billy, a reformed outlaw, in an unspecified deal. That same day in Alamedas, Billy, who operates a legitimate ranch with the help of Matt's son Chip, finds out that the bank is calling in his loan at nine o'clock the next morning. Sympathetic bank manager Endicott agrees to open the bank early so Billy will have time to sell his calves and make the payment. Billy's fiancée, Arlene Reach, insists they go ahead with their wedding plans despite this setback, and returns to Tombstone to close her millinery shop. Later, Chip happily reunites with his father at the ranch, but Billy senses trouble. Billy's instincts are confirmed when Matt admits he escaped from jail and cannot return because he knifed a guard. Billy offers to help Matt as long as he agrees to hang up his gun belt, but refuses to get involved with Frazer's deal or help Matt escape across the border. To force Billy into joining them, Matt and his cohorts plan to frame him for a bank robbery. The next morning, Matt holds a gun to Billy's back as he enters the bank. Matt, Dixon and Kolloway then rob the bank, and when they tell Endicott that Billy was the mastermind, Billy is forced to escape with them to save his own life. Before traveling very far, however, Billy confronts Matt and kills him during a struggle over a gun. Chip finds them and, disbelieving Billy's story, decides to join his father's gang. Billy returns to Alamedas to set things straight but is captured by a mob of locals. Marshal Wyatt Earp and his brother Virgil prevent Billy from being lynched, but Billy then escapes the law on horseback. Billy next visits Arlene and convinces her of his innocence. He then tells Arlene about his plan to infiltrate Matt's gang and turn them in, and asks her to inform the Earps. Billy takes over the gang, which now includes a resentful Chip. Frazer, meanwhile, poses as a legitimate businessman but is secretly working with Ike Clinton, once Billy's outlaw rival. Clinton is blackmailing Frazer and taking ever larger cuts of Frazer's profits from his saloon, hotel and mine operation. To eliminate Clinton, Frazer tells Billy about their joint plan to rob the next Wells Fargo delivery, and promises to cut Billy in on the profits if he gets rid of Clinton. Billy slips into town and reports this information to Wyatt, who grants Billy his freedom in exchange for his promise to lead Clinton and his gang into an ambush. When Chip attacks Billy after he refuses to allow the young man to participate in the robbery, Billy throws him out. Clinton then befriends Chip in order to get information about Billy, and gives him a job as a ranchhand. When Clinton finds out about Frazer's betrayal, he murders Frazer. Billy then decides to outwit Clinton by joining forces with him, and the former rivals attack the express station. After a brutal gun battle, Billy escapes with the wagon but is overtaken by Clinton and Dixon, who realize that Billy double-crossed them. Clinton and Dixon knock Billy off the wagon and escape with it, leaving Billy to follow their tracks on foot. The trail leads away from the waiting posse, so Billy leaves behind his own vest so that the lawmen can follow him. Billy finds the gang and holds them at gunpoint before they can disburse the stolen cash, but is forced to kill Kolloway in self-defense. Clinton and the rest of the gang then fire at Billy, who takes cover behind a boulder with the money and the horses. Clinton sends Chip to kill his uncle, but following Billy's instructions, Chip only pretends to kill him. Clinton then tries to kill Chip, who finally realizes that he has been wrong about his uncle all along. Clinton eliminates the rest of the gang one by one, after which Billy surprises him by emerging from his hiding place alive. After Clinton grabs Chip and shoots Billy in the shoulder, Billy responds by wounding Clinton. The posse arrives before either are killed and arrests Clinton. Later, Billy and Arlene are married, and Billy surrenders his gun belt to Wyatt.