The Dude Ranger

Easterner Ernest Selby arrives in Winston, Arizona eager to sell the Red Rock ranch, which he inherited from his uncle, but John H. Beckett, one of his uncle's executors, informs him that more than half of the ranch's 10,000 cattle have mysteriously disappeared in the previous six months. With a new cowboy outfit, Selby rides to the ranch to confront Sam Hepburn, the operator, and finds that Hepburn, a wheelchair-bound old man, is the father of Ann, whom he met in town. Thinking that Selby has come for a job because of her, like many cowboys who have passed through before, Ann asks her father to hire him. Selby, who indeed is attracted to Ann, accepts, keeping his identity a secret. Ann's interest in Selby provokes the ire of Dale Hyslip, the assistant manager, and that night, a rattlesnake is dropped onto Selby's bed as he sleeps. Nebraska Kemp, a cowhand who has befriended Selby, smashes the snake with his shoe and warns Selby that it is obvious to someone that he is there to make trouble. The next day, Selby and Nebraska notice a fence at the opening of Box Canyon, so-called because there is only one way out. Nebraska speculates that the cattle are probably held there and then shipped out when no one is looking. When a shot is fired at them, Selby, through his binoculars, sees Hepburn on his horse with a rifle. Convinced that Hepburn is crooked, Selby plans to get proof during the next roundup. That night, Ann promises to go to a dance with Hyslip, but instead sneaks in Selby's wagon and rides to town with him. Peeved at his indifference to her, she ridicules him in front of the dancehall. Later, to Ann's relief, Selby cuts in on a dance she's having with Hyslip, which provokes Hyslip to pull out his gun. Selby walks right into it, forcing Hyslip to back away out of the hall and ultimately to fall down the steps. In front of an approving crowd, Selby then kisses Ann, to her surprise and approval, and rides off. After Selby and Nebraska see Hepburn receive money for cattle held in the canyon, Selby confronts Hepburn, who accuses him of trying to shake him down. When Ann, who suspects her father, asks him about rumors she's heard, he orders her to go to her room. After Hepburn leaves, Selby investigates his books, but he hears Hyslip arrive and hides in Ann's room. Ann asks Selby to help her get away from her father, and he hugs her as she cries. After they leave, Hyslip opens Hepburn's safe, but Hepburn returns and reveals that he now has proof to expose Hyslip's cattle rustling scheme. They struggle and Hepburn's gun goes off wounding Hepburn. When the cowboys arrive in response to the shot, Hyslip accuses Selby of shooting Hepburn and stealing $10,000 from the safe. Nebraska, however, finds Selby's gun, which has not been shot, and rides to warn him. On the way to town, Ann decides to go back rather than run out on her father. When Selby reveals his identity, she accuses him of spying and of making love to her to get her father. After she drives back alone, Nebraska warns Selby and goes to get the sheriff. Finding Hyslip alone by a cliff, Selby jumps him and takes his gun. Hyslip then walks into the gun, as Selby did at the dance, forcing Selby to back to the edge of the cliff, but Selby fires a second gun behind him. Hyslip slumps, thinking he has been hit, and Selby moves in front of him. At the ranch, Hepburn revives and accuses Hyslip as Selby brings him in. The sheriff arrests Hyslip, and Selby returns the money Hyslip stole. He then gives Ann a compact, which she drops. As they both bend to pick it up, he kisses her.