The Cowboy and the Prizefighter
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Lewis D. Collins
Jim Bannon
Little Brown Jug
Emmett Lynn
Marin Sais
Don Haggerty
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Outside a western town, newcomer Steve Stevenson shoots a ranch hand to prevent him from killing rancher Red Ryder, who had just fired the hand from his Painted Valley ranch. As thanks, Red offers Steve the dead man's job on the ranch, which Red owns with his aunt, Duchess. At the ranch house, Steve explains that he is from the town of Indian Gap, where his gambling father, Miles, was murdered a few months earlier. Official reports called the death a suicide prompted by Miles' financial trouble, but Steve believes that crooked prizefight promoter Mark Palmer had a hand in Miles' death. Earlier, Palmer set up a fixed fight between the Stevenson ranch foreman and his man, Bull. The bets were covered by Charlie, the local gambling house proprietor. When Miles' man lost the fight, the townspeople, who lost considerable money, turned against him, and he was given thirty days to get off his ranch. Now Steve rides out with Red, his friend Buckskin Blodgett, and Little Beaver, an Indian boy, and come upon a stagecoach being robbed by a group of bandits. Buckskin and Red fight off the thieves, and the $5,000 gold payroll is saved. In town, Steve discovers that Palmer was on the stagecoach, and confronts him. Also on board was Sue Evans, who, through Charlie, has come to work at the Silver Dollar Saloon for owner Bart Osborne. Osborne and Palmer plan to force Red to fight Bull, then discredit him after Bull wins and the townspeople lose their bets. Steve decides to fight in Red's place. Buckskin, meanwhile, has eavesdropped on Osborne and Palmer plotting with Duke Samson, the leader of the bandits, to steal the payroll during the fight. Buckskin is caught and knocked out, however, and suffers a temporary case of amnesia. At the fight, Steve is knocked out after Bull punches him with a lead pipe in his hand. After the heist, a bank employee races to get the sheriff, and a posse brings in the bandits after a gunfight and chase in which Samson is killed. Later, in town, a man tells Red that Osborne has started a rumor that Red is a coward. In the saloon, after Palmer, Osborne and Bull split their profits, Red fights Bull and accuses him of being armed with a lead pipe when it flies out of Bull's hand and hits Buckskin in the head. With Buckskin, whose amnesia is cured by the blow, as a witness, Osborne and Palmer are arrested. Later, at Red's ranch house, Steve reports that Palmer admitted to killing Steve's father. It turns out that Sue was working for Osborne in order to repay a gambling debt owed by her brother, who is Charlie. Steve suggests that Sue quit her job and marry him, and Duchess threatens to hit Buckskin again so that he is not so ornery.
Director
Lewis D. Collins
Cast
Jim Bannon
Little Brown Jug
Emmett Lynn
Marin Sais
Don Haggerty
Karen Randle
John Hart
Lane Bradford
Marshall Reed
Forrest Taylor
Frank Ellis
Bud Osborne
Lou Nova
Crew
Bartlett Carré
Jack Casey
David Chudnow
Glen Glenn
Joseph P. Gluck
Fred W. Kline
Ralph Kraushaar
Bert Offord
Vin Taylor
Jerry Thomas
Jerry Thomas
Gilbert Warrenton
Gloria Welsch
Joseph Wonder
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
So that ornery varmint finally got what he had comin' to him. Did he talk?- The Duchess
Well, he couldn't very well, seeing how he's dead.- Red Ryder
Trivia
Notes
Modern sources add Steve Clark and Ray Jones to the cast. The Cowboy and the Prizefighter was the fourth and final entry in the "Red Ryder" series, and was the last film produced by the Equity Pictures. For additional information on the "Red Ryder" series, please consult the Series Index and see the entry below for Tucson Raiders.
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States Winter December 1949
Released in United States Winter December 1949
