Michael Curtiz had directed Will Rogers Jr with some success two years earlier, as Jr played Sr in a faithful biopic of the well-loved star (Jr was facially a dead ringer). Warner Bros decided to pair director and star one more time, and this pleasant western was the result; a minor film where Rogers Jr plays a law student who becomes the peace-loving sheriff of Bluerock. Rogers Jr didn't have what it took to become a star, but a minor cowboy player in this movie did become one of America's most famous chat-show hosts: watch out for Merv Griffin in his early incarnation as actor. Warners would later spin off the theme of this movie in its TV series Sugarfoot (known as Tenderfoot in the UK).

A town despot makes a guileless patsy the sheriff, lives to regret it.