This film essentially begins with two gunmen by the names of "Reb Kittredge" (Audie Murphy) and "Johnny Lake" (Charles Drake) parting ways in Montana with Johnny going north to an area near the Big Sandy Creek while Reb heads in a more westerly direction to the town of Billings. On his way to Billings, however, he is bushwhacked by a lone gunman who kills his horse before riding off once Reb returns fire. Not long afterward, Reb manages to hitch a ride on a passing stagecoach and it's then that he meets an attractive woman named "Rita Saxon" (Susan Cabot) who is on her way to Billings to meet her father. As it so happens, once the stagecoach arrives in Billings, Reb is offered money by a wealthy landowner named "Matt Telford" (Donald Randolph) to kill a man named "Dan Saxon" (Paul Kelly)--who is Rita's father. At that point, Reb heads into the saloon to consider the offer. It's then that he meets Dan who proposes a high-stakes bet in which he offers the deed to his ranch if Reb can select a higher card than him from a nearby deck. The alternative being that, if Dan wins, then Reb has to turn down Telford's offer and leave town. Reb accepts the bet and, surprisingly, wins. However, he soon discovers that owning a ranch is much more difficult than he initially realized. Not only that, but he also learns that Telford is prepared to do whatever is necessary to take his ranch from him--and he hires Johnny Lake to help him out in that regard. Now, rather than reveal any more I will just say that, although Audie Murphy certainly starred in a number of Western films, he was never quite able to display the charisma or acting ability of more successful stars like John Wayne, Gary Cooper or Randolph Scott. For that reason, most of his films never quite resonated with audiences to the same extent. Even so, this particular film was still enjoyable enough in its own right and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.
