Highest-Rated Movies about 'Cattle Rustler'

Tom Horn (1980), The Texas Rangers (1936), San Antonio (1945), King of the Pecos (1936), Ambush Trail (1946), The Bad Man (1941), Lure of the Wasteland (1939), Bullets and Saddles (1943) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Cattle Rustler movies.

#1. Tom Horn (1980)

Storyline: A renowned former army scout is hired by ranchers to hunt down rustlers but finds himself on trial for the murder of a boy when he carries out his job too well. Tom Horn finds that the simple skills he knows are of no help in dealing with the ambitions of ranchers and corrupt officials as progress marches over him and the old west.—Keith Loh <loh@sfu.ca>

Plot Keywords: apache, arizona territory, arizona, gunshot, opening action scene, winchester rifle, repeating rifle ...

Movie Details Click Here!

#2. The Texas Rangers (1936)

Storyline: Jim Hawkins and Wahoo Jones are stagecoach robbers who head to Texas to find Sam McGee, their partner. Once there, low on funds, they join the Texas Rangers, come across Sam, and decide to run their game by sending Sam inside information. Meanwhile, though, in pacifying rebellious Indians, Jim and Wahoo start to take on the code of the Rangers, and the daughter of the Ranger's major sets her sights on Jim. Can there be honor among thieves, or are Jim, Wahoo, and Sam on a collision course? As a lawless frontier becomes a civilized land, which side will the boys chose?—<jhailey@hotmail.com>

Plot Keywords: death of friend, native american attack, betrayal, henchman, stock footage, austin texas, saga ...

Movie Details Click Here!

#3. San Antonio (1945)

Storyline: Clay Hardin is a San Antonio rancher who has been run off his land by cattle rustlers. There's a range war going on and Hardin is determined to get the man behind it all, Roy Stuart. Hardin has been hiding out in Mexico, biding his time and decides the time has come for him to return. He's managed to get hold of one of Stuart's tally books that clearly shows he was selling cattle that didn't belong to him. Stuart and his partner Legare will go to any lengths to stop Hardin before he can put the evidence before a court. Beautiful dance hall performer Jeanne Starr arrives in San Antonio under contract to Stuart and Legare but she is clearly smitten with the handsome Hardin. When the army is called away, Hardin and his supporters are left on their own to defend themselves.—garykmcd

Plot Keywords: reprisal, vindication, retribution, post civil war, range war, musician, shootout ...

Movie Details Click Here!

#4. King of the Pecos (1936)

Storyline: Profiteer Alexander Stiles lays claim to a million acres of range in the Pecos River country, but a rancher named Claybor stands in his way as he has already claimed the water-rich location of Sweetwater as his own, and refuses Stiles' $1000 offer for his land. Led by the murderous Ash, the hired guns of Stiles kill Clayborn and his wife but their young son John survives and joins his grandfather in Austin. As the boy grows into a man he learns the use of a law book as well as a six gun, intending to use both to bring Stiles to justice. As lawyer John Clay, he travels to the Cottonwood headquarters of Stiles, self-proclaimed King of the Pecos, and meets Hank Matthews and Josh Billings, two cattlemen thrown into poverty through the crooked dealings of Stiles. John serves a summons for Stiles to appear in court but the circuit judge is too frightened to face the might of Stiles. John sends Hank to round up other impoverished cattlemen, and they provide the judge with an armed escort to Cottonwood. The judge upholds the ranchers' pleas for use of water and grass, and Stiles sees most of his ill-gotten gains turned over to public domain for proper filing. Stiles convinces newcomers Eli Jackson and his daughter Belle that John is trying to cheat the ranchers and file claims for himself. He also plans an ambush for those riding through the canyon to file claims and he sends Ash and his gunmen to the hills, instructing them to shoot anyone without the white arm bands he has supplied to his own riders. John discovers the plot and has the ranchers to also wear white arm bands, ensuring their safe passage. With their claim successfully filed the ranchers plan a cattle drive to Abilene where the railroad is promising $20 a head. Stiles steals whatever cattle he can and moves his outlaws to Sweetwater, where he hopes to extort money for use of the water there from the trail drivers. When the drive reaches Sweetwater, John confronts Stiles, revealing that he is the son of the murdered Clayborn's and that Sweetwater rightfully belongs to him. Following a siege by John and the ranchers, Stiles tries to escape by buckboard, but when the wagon tips over he is crushed by the safe containing money he has stolen from others. John pursues Ash into the rocks, offering him a chance to draw first and then ills him. John leaves his gun and his quest for revenge at the site and turns his mind to Belle and his law career.—Les Adams <longhorn1939@suddenlink.net>

Plot Keywords: actor's name in tagline, resolvement, remorse, land grab, judge, lawyer, safe ...

Movie Details Click Here!

#5. Ambush Trail (1946)

Storyline: Curley Thompson purchases a ranch near the town of Douglas and is surprised to find that his inherited, happy-go-lucky foreman, Sam Hawkins, can't even ride a horse. Freight owner Hatch Bolton is boss of the town and is out to ruin the local ranchers in order to get their ranches and sell to a Chicago grain combine. After Sheriff Tom Gordon is ambushed, his brother Walter and Alice Rhodes join Curley in his fight against Bolton. A rancher is murdered and Bolton tries to frame Curley, but Gordon lets him out of jail. Curley learns that the murdered man had been trying to tell him that a pair of steer horns over the bar contain the evidence needed against Bolton.—Les Adams <longhorn1939@suddenlink.net>

Plot Keywords: independent film, actor billed above the title, grindhouse film, 1880s, shootout, gunfire, frame up ...

Movie Details Click Here!

#6. The Bad Man (1941)

Storyline: Lopez is a bandit who has stolen the herd at Gil's ranch, so Hardy is about to foreclose. But Lucia has come back from New York and Gil is happy until he meets her husband, Morgan. Saying that they are friends, Morgan wants to buy the ranch before Hardy forecloses, and Gil will sell, but Lopez shows up with all his men and holds them all captive. Lopez has his own law, carried out with a 44 - and he plans to settle everything according to his vision of life.—Tony Fontana <tony.fontana@spacebbs.com>

Plot Keywords: based on play, paraplegic, police, rancher, ransom, uncle, unrequited love ...

Movie Details Click Here!

#7. Lure of the Wasteland (1939)

Storyline: Federal agent Smitty assists Butch Cooper, leader of a gang that robbed a train in which the loot was never recovered, in making an escape and accompanies him to the Utah badlands. Parker, leader of a gang of cattle rustlers, recognizes Butch. The latter takes Smitty to the spot where the loot was buried, but it has disappeared. Butch suspects his former comrades of making off with the money. Smitty and Butch have acquired jobs on a nearby ranch and Cookie, a former gang member, is questioned about the missing money. Butch encounters two members of his old gang and they take him to Parker. Both suspect the other of having the money, but they finally conclude that Cookie either has it or knows where it is. They kidnap him and he confesses he dug up the money and it is in the safe at the ranch of Judge Carlton. Smitty comes in and, in the struggle that follows, is revealed as a federal agent working undercover. He is left guarded while Butch, Parker and the gang ride to Carlton's ranch.—Les Adams <longhorn1939@suddenlink.net>

Plot Keywords: independent film, saloon, 1880s, trickery, ruse, prison escape, treachery ...

Movie Details Click Here!

#8. Bullets and Saddles (1943)

Storyline: Hammond is after the Craig ranch and has framed Charlie Craig for murder. Mother Craig brings in the Range Busters. They capture one of Hammond's men and Alibi plans to trick him into a confession as to who the real murderer is. Meanwhile, Denny has overheard Hammond's plans for his next move and he and Crash set out to round up the gang.—Maurice VanAuken <mvanauken@a1access.net>

Plot Keywords: independent film, stock footage, vindication, two gun man, bushwhacker, ambush, ventriloquist ...

Movie Details Click Here!

#9. The Moonlighter (1953)

Storyline: In the early 1900s, Wes Anderson is arrested for night-time cattle rustling (moonlighting). He had been gone from his home town for five years, leaving his sweetheart, Rela, to wait for him. Wes' brother, Tom, has chosen a different path in life and works as a teller in a bank in Rio Hondo. Tom is in-love with Rela and he pressures her to marry him in Wes' absence. Languishing in a sheriff's jail, Wes is awaiting trial, which promises to be a fair one, at least according to the town sheriff. But an angry lynch mob of local ranchers agitate in front of the jail, swinging a hanging rope and hankering for Wes' blood. When the sheriff leaves his jail for a lunch-break, the mob breaks into the jail, grabs an imprisoned hobo by mistake and hangs him. The lynch-mob believes to have hung Wes but he is safe, in jail. After he escapes from jail, Wes vows revenge on the members of the lynch mob. During the following days, Wes raids the ranches of those who participated in the lynch mob. He burns their ranches and barns, kills their livestock and he gets into gunfights with the ranchers. Wounded during a raid, Wes runs home to his mother's house. There he heals his wounds, re-connects with his mother and brother and also meets with Rela. Wes is still in-love with her but she claims not to be interested anymore. She prefers marrying Wes' brother, Tom, who offers more security than Wes. However, when Tom looses his job at the bank, Wes lures him into a bank-robbing scheme. Angry at his former employer, Tom agrees to join his brother Wes in robbing the bank in Rio Hondo. Tom figures he could use the robbery money to marry Rela. A third man, outlaw Cole Gardner, joins the Anderson brothers in their plan. The robbery has unexpected hitches that sends the robbers into a mountain hideout. Some double-crosses occur and the sheriff's posse trails the robbers. In a last-minute twist, Rela asks the sheriff to deputize her with the rest of the posse and promises to bring the robbers to justice. Will Rela shoot the men she loves or Vice-Versa ?—nufs68

Plot Keywords: 3 dimensional, ranch foreman, mob violence, lynch mob, family home, cattle rustler, bank robbery ...

Movie Details Click Here!

#10. Arizona Trail (1943)

Storyline: When crafty Doc Wallace sends for Johnny Trent and his pal, Kansas to come home to the Trent ranch in Arizona, Johnny meets Martha Brooks, who is caring for his invalid father, whose ranch some unknown enemy is trying to wrest away, as it has become suddenly valuable. Aided by Wayne Carson and Martha, Johnny uncovers the culprit to be Doc Wallace, the supposed family friend.—Les Adams <longhorn1939@suddenlink.net>

Plot Keywords: reconciliation, confrontation, turmoil, anger, hostility, brawling, resolvement ...

Movie Details Click Here!

#11. Eddie Macon's Run (1983)

Storyline: Eddie Macon will do anything for and to be with his wife and young son, Chris and Bobby. It is for Bobby that they moved from Florida to Texas, one injustice after another which lands Eddie behind bars at Huntsville ultimately on a twenty year sentence. With Chris' help, Eddie plots to break out of prison, the plan to make his way on foot, traveling solely at night, to Laredo where he will cross the border into Mexico to meet Chris and Bobby, he and Chris figuring that he is not important enough for the Mexican authorities to bother sending him back if he is ever caught south of the border. While the good ol' boys within the Texas penal system send out the blood hounds to search for Eddie, Carl Marzack with the prisoner transfer office decides to search for Eddie on his own largely to settle an old score. While Marzack's colleagues' method is to chase, Marzack is more methodical, believing he just needs to follow the crumbs ultimately with Eddie showing himself in the process. There are a few hiccups along the way, some that help Eddie and some that help Marzack. What may trump all is something stronger within Marzack, namely to show that he is smarter than the rest.—Huggo

Plot Keywords: based on novel, rodeo, shower, skinny dipping, snake, on the run, injustice ...

Movie Details Click Here!

#12. Drum Taps (1933)

Storyline: Skinner and his gang are grabbing land from the ranchers. When they go after Kerry's ranch Ken stops them. Skinner frames Ken for rustling but the Sheriff is on Ken's side, and with the help of his brother Earl's Boy Scout troup they go after the gang.—Maurice VanAuken <mvanauken@a1access.net>

Plot Keywords: land grab, brother brother relationship, grindhouse film, pre code film, stock footage, singer, singing ...

Movie Details Click Here!

#13. Mark of the Spur (1932)

Storyline: The Kid takes a job on Beckett's ranch just as Beckett's long departed wife and son John return. The Kid makes enemies of Butch and Buzzard who join up with John. The three then rob Beckett and stab him with the Kid's knife. But Alice finds spur marks on her fathers body and goes looking for the matching spur.—Maurice VanAuken <mvanauken@a1access.net>

Plot Keywords: message, gunfire, gunfight, guilt, grudge, georgia, gangster ...

Movie Details Click Here!

#14. Home on the Range (2004)

Storyline: Alameda Slim (Randy Quaid), a wanted cattle rustler, uses an alias to buy up properties all over western Nebraska, and his next target is the Patch of Heaven dairy farm, where the widow owner cares more for her "family" of yard animals than she does for profit. She just doesn't have the cash to keep in business or to prevent Slim from taking her farm. The animals, mainly carefree youngsters, are unable to help, however, three cows of very different temperaments rise to the desperate occasion and set out to do battle for their dream home. They team up with the Sheriff's megalomaniac horse and any other animal who can possibly help, even a crazy lucky rabbit and an invincible buffalo.

Plot Keywords: farm, talking animal, horse, rabbit, cattle rustler, sheriff, buffalo ...

Movie Details Click Here!

#15. Five Guns West (1955)

Storyline: Shalee Jethro (Dorothy Malone) helps her father run a desert stagecoach station. Five desperate outlaws arrive at the station to await a gold shipment they plan to rob, and Shalee becomes their hostage bait in several ways, and then the men begin to fight among themselves. four of them attack her but she is saved by Govern Sturges (John Lund), who also turns out to be a Confederate officer planted among the gang.—Les Adams <longhorn1939@suddenlink.net>

Plot Keywords: gambler, dancer, alcoholic, ghost town, outlaw, year 1865, rifle ...

Movie Details Click Here!