In Rawhide, New Mexico, rancher Jim Bonner’s reputation as a trouble-maker is confirmed after he and his sidekicks, Skeet and Horsetail, run the railroad station agent out of town for refusing to pay a claim. When bankers Ben and Joe Murdock realize their bank is broke and that they have to come up with $25,000 before the examiner arrives, they plan to frame Jim by sending the bank’s money by train to Texas, holding it up and cashing in on a claim from the railroad. Jim plans to roughhouse the new station agent, but when he discovers the agent is a woman, Marion Meade, he asks her to the dance instead. One afternoon in town, Jim releases the cattle from the corral, and they stampede through town just as Marion is crossing the street. Unaware that Jim has perpetrated this prank, Marion is grateful to him for rescuing her from the herd and accepts his invitation to the dance. The Murdock brothers are uneasy about the growing friendship between Jim and Marion, and at the dance, they provoke Jim into a brawl, which leads the sheriff to throw Jim out. The next day at the bank, when Jim makes a deposit, Joe and Ben hurriedly call the sheriff over to discuss their plans of sending their funds by rail and indicate that they are concerned that Jim may overhear them. Jim does not overhear their plans, but later, he and his sidekicks do see the robbery in action and chase the thieves, who lead him back to his own ranch. Jim knocks out one thief, who later escapes, and retrieves the money, intending to give it to the sheriff, but the sheriff arrests Jim, Skeet and Horsetail for the robbery and returns the money to Ben, who is disappointed he cannot make a claim. Ben and Joe plan another robbery and help Jim, Skeet and Horsetail escape from jail so they can pin the next robbery on them. While escaping from a posse, Jim visits Marion and relates his scheme to catch the true bandits. He then goes into hiding with Horsetail and Skeet. Once again, Murdock sends the bank money by train, but this time Marion puts the money in a safe and puts newspapers in the packet. The train is robbed as it leaves the station, and after a daring walk on top of the cars, Jim captures the bandits and the sheriff arrests Ben. Finally, Marion knows she can have faith in Jim. More on Wikipedia or Mubi
Watch The Local Bad Man (1932)
