Lawless Code (1949)

Curly Blake, nephew and heir of wealthy Red Rock rancher Jed Gordon, persuades his uncle not to invest in a crooked land scheme promoted by former judge Harmon Steele and his secretary Lem Martin. Thinking Curly has cheated in a poker game with Tom Blaine and Carter, Gordon disowns him and invests with Steele, not realizing that the latter has paid Blaine and Carter to frame Curly. Later, realizing that Steele is a crook, he confronts Steele, who kills Gordon with Blaine's gun. The four plotters throw the suspicion on Curly but he escapes from the sheriff, and is hidden by Jimmy and his pal "Cannonball" who suspect Steele. To force Steele to return Blaine's incriminating gun, Blaine and Carter kidnap Rita Caldwell, Steele's fiancée and Curly's former sweetheart, but are chased by Jimmy who kills Blaine and wounds Carter. Steele attempts to kill the imprisoned Carter, but Jimmy pursues the promoter, whose neck is broken when he tries to escape.