Cowboy Ross McEwen arrives in town. He asks the banker for a loan of $2000. When the banker asks about securing a loan that large, McEwen shows him his six-gun collateral. The banker hands over the money in exchange for an I.O.U., signed "Jefferson Davis". McEwen rides out of town and catches a train, but not before being bitten by a rattler. On the train, a nurse, Miss Hollister, tends to his wound. A posse searches the train, but McEwen manages to escape notice. However a mysterious Mexican has taken note of the cowboy, and that loudmouthed brat is still nosing around. Who will be the first to claim the reward for the robber's capture?
Acting
Joel McCrea's gentle thief, somehow making robbery wholesome.
Writing
Jefferson Davis I.O.U.—the cheekiest alias in Western history.
Director
Alfred E. Green
Joel McCrea
Ross McEwen
Frances Dee
Fay Hollister
Charles Bickford
Pat Garrett
Joseph Calleia
Monte Marquez
William Conrad
Sheriff Egan
Martín Garralaga
Florencio
Raymond Largay
Dr. Eldredge
John Parrish
Frenger
Dan White
Clint Waters
Davison Clark
Burnett
Houseley Stevenson
Anderson
Eva Novak
Mrs. Winston
Sam Flint
Storekeeper
Forrest Taylor
Conductor No.2
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Joel McCrea and Frances Dee were married in real life—this was one of eleven films they made together, and their chemistry was famously effortless.
The film subverts 1948 Western expectations by making the outlaw's virtue his weapon and the lawman's violence his weakness—a quiet counterpoint to High Noon's moral absolutism.
US
