Taming Sutton's Gal

• Watchlist

In the back hills country of California, crusty, cigar-smoking Aunty Sutton criticizes her seventeen-year-old niece Lou for her spunk, warning her that she will "never find a man." Meanwhile, at the neighboring Phelps' house, wife Evelyn, a city woman discontent with her boring rural life, wistfully watches as a plane drones overhead. Noticing his wife's upward glance, Evelyn's abusive, moonshiner husband Jugger threatens to kill her if she tries to leave him. Their argument is interrupted when Frank McClary, a bank teller from the city who has come to the country on a hunting vacation, asks for directions to the Sutton house, where he plans to board. Jugger points Frank in the right direction, and on the road there, Frank spots Lou, who is sitting by the creek, watching for bees to lead her to their "bee tree." Frank offers Lou a ride home and once there, Aunty embarrasses her by telling Frank that Lou is "looking to snare a man." Aunty asks Lou to show Frank where to hunt, and while Lou waits by the creek to look for bees, Frank climbs the ridge in search of pheasants. After bagging two birds, Frank leaves them along the roadside to hunt some more. Soon after, Jugger pulls up in his truck, steals the pheasants, and as Frank shoots three more birds, Jugger fires his rifle, then asserts that he shot the birds and claims them for himself. Upon discovering that the other two birds are missing, Frank goes to the Phelps' home to confront Jugger. Instead, he is greeted by Evelyn, a former burlesque dancer, who complains that Jugger lost all his money soon after they were married. She then brazenly tries to seduce Frank, who resists her and quickly departs. When Jugger returns home, Evelyn tells him that Frank threatened her and took all the pheasants, sending Jugger into the woods to confront Frank. There Jugger challenges Frank to a fight, and after Frank thrashes him, Jugger vows revenge. Back at the Sutton house, Frank asks Lou to take him bee hunting the following morning. The next day, as Jugger recovers from his beating, Evelyn goes hunting in the woods for their dinner. Along the way, she stops at the Suttons' to inquire about Frank. After Aunty informs her that Frank is on the ridge, Evelyn goes there. Lou has left Frank to bring her cow Daisy home, and when Evelyn finds Frank alone, she kisses him. Seeing them embrace, Lou feels betrayed and comes home alone in tears. After Lou is cold toward Frank when he returns, he senses that she saw him with Evelyn and tries to make amends by helping her wash the dishes. The next day in the woods, Frank flirts with Lou and they playfully chase a bee to the bee tree. Evelyn spots them and vindictively tells Jugger about the tree's location. After Lou and Frank run home to inform Aunty of their find, Jugger sets fire to the tree. Evelyn, desperate to escape her oppressive husband, shoots Jugger in the shoulder and hurries home. Inside the Suttons' barn, meanwhile, Lou and Frank tussle in the hay, and after Frank kisses her, Lou tells Aunty that she and Frank are getting married. As Evelyn hastily packs her suitcase, Jugger crashes down the door to their house and angrily declares that Frank shot him. Goaded on by Evelyn, Jugger drives to the Sutton house and is met by the shotgun carrying Aunty who orders him to empty his rifle and leave. Just then, Evelyn arrives and Jugger tells her to climb into the truck, then drives to the barn where the two take cover for a shootout with the Suttons. After Frank sends Aunty to town to summon the sheriff, Jugger tries to sneak around the house, but Frank outsmarts him and wounds him in the side. Seeking refuge in the barn, Jugger realizes that Frank shot him with a shotgun, and that his shoulder wound was caused by a rifle. Realizing that Evelyn must have shot him in the shoulder, Jugger turns on her, but she gets the drop on him and orders him to walk toward the house, shotgun in hand, hoping that Frank will kill him. As Jugger stumbles out of the barn, he swerves around and shoots Evelyn, then throws down his gun and surrenders. When Frank approaches, Jugger reaches for his hidden pistol, but Frank fells him with the butt of his shotgun. Evelyn dies from her wound, and soon after, Frank, Lou and Aunty climb into Frank's jeep to drive to the city for the wedding. When Lou becomes tearful about leaving her home, Aunty tells her to save her tears for her husband.