El Paso

El Paso is a 1949 American Western film directed by Lewis R. Foster and starring John Payne, Gail Russell and Sterling Hayden. Plot Clay Fletcher (John Payne), lawyer and returned Civil War Confederate officer, feels he needs to ease back into his legal career; he takes an assignment to travel west from his home state of South Carolina to a "frontier settlement called El Paso", in Texas. His mission involves obtaining the signature on estate documents of attorney Henry Jeffers (Henry Hull), whom Clay knows by reputation. He also knows, and is very fond of, Jeffers' daughter, Susan (Gail Russell). Along the way, he meets a pots-and-pans peddler named Pesky (George 'Gabby' Hayes) and a con-woman, Stagecoach Nellie (Mary Beth Hughes), who steals his wallet. In a saloon in El Paso, Clay witnesses a sham trial; a man is convicted of murder by a drunken judge, who turns out to be Jeffers. When Clay speaks up on the defendant's behalf, he is charged with contempt of court. Unable to pay the fine, his fancy clothing is auctioned off. Clay is rescued by rancher Nacho Vazquez (Eduardo Noriega), who offers him a place to stay. He also gets reacquainted with Susan, who owns a hat shop. Clay learns the man found guilty of murder was framed by rich, shady land owner Bert Donner (Sterling Hayden) and his stooge, Sheriff La Farge (Dick Foran).