Back in the Saddle Again

Gene Autry and Frog Millhouse travel to New York for a rodeo with the goal of rounding up Tom Bennett and bringing him back to Solitude, Arizona. They intend to force Tom to leave behind city life and take over the Bar Cross ranch. Gene ultimately escorts Tom to the train, starting the long journey back west. The plan sets up the central conflict between Gene's Western heroism and Tom's city-drawn desires.

During the return trip, Gene encounters his old friend Duke Winston, a gambler who has just eluded trouble. Duke's presence injects a sense of risk into the journey home. The reunion foreshadows later complications in Solitude.

Tom Bennett returns to Solitude and briefly contemplates leaving control behind, but soon meets Taffy and her sister Patsy, who are in town looking for work. Tom asks Duke to help Taffy get a singing job at the local saloon. The meeting introduces Taffy and Patsy into the town’s social scene and Tom's circle.

Duke arranges a singing job for Taffy at the saloon, while Gene badly misreads her intentions and assumes she’s chasing Tom’s money. His rude behavior toward Taffy triggers a confrontation and a brawl in the saloon. The incident underscores Gene’s prejudice against Taffy and tensions between the newcomers and longtime townfolk.

Gene discovers cattle dying along a stream polluted by Blaine’s copper mine. He urges Blaine to install proper drainage pits to clean the water, arguing that the town’s livelihood depends on it. Blaine refuses, claiming the shutdown would cripple operations and profits.

Realizing the pollution won’t stop, Gene goes to Judge Bent to obtain an injunction to halt the mining. The judge informs him that the proper action requires a higher court, necessitating a trip to Phoenix. The journey sets up a legal battle that will decide the town’s fate.

While Gene is away, Tom rounds up the ranchers and rides to the mine to shut down operations. A gunfight erupts, and Tom kills a henchman in self-defense. Blaine uses the incident to frame Tom for murder, sparking a lynch mob among the miners.

Duke returns to the scene and persuades Blaine to halt the mob, effectively saving Tom’s life. His intervention slows the escalating confrontation and buys time for a negotiated settlement. The moment reinforces Duke’s role as a stabilizing force.

Blaine tells Gene he will ensure Tom receives a fair trial if Gene withdraws the injunction. Gene refuses, insisting that Blaine must begin drainage work and secure a fair trial. The standoff deepens the conflict between legality and greed.

Concerned about possible prejudice in Solitude, Judge Bent devises a plan to move the trial to a different venue and boards a train to Phoenix to argue the change in court. Gene serves the injunction despite the judge’s strategic maneuvering. The legal drama shifts toward a higher jurisdiction.

Gene serves Blaine with the injunction to stop the waste dumping. In response, Blaine orchestrates a trap designed to implicate Gene and Tom in a jailbreak and to eliminate them. The town’s fragile peace teeters on a knife-edge as plans unfold.

Patsy rides to the ranch to warn Frog and the other men of the plot against Gene and Tom. Taffy, trying to warn Gene, is blocked by Blaine’s men, heightening the danger. The warning attempts galvanize the resistance even as danger closes in.

Duke quietly slips in to assist Gene and Tom during the shootout as Blaine’s men attempt to break them out. In the firefight that follows, Duke is shot and killed, and Blaine is also killed during the chaos. The attempted jailbreak collapses, but the heroes escape the deadly trap.

Frog and the ranch hands stampede their cattle through the town to create a distraction and clear a path for retreat. A street brawl erupts, and Blaine’s men are captured and hauled away. The town begins to recover from the violence as order returns.

With the threat resolved, Gene and Taffy join their friends at a picnic celebrating Tom’s twenty-first birthday. The town gathers to honor Tom and look toward a steadier future. The film closes on a note of camaraderie and reunion.