| Stranger on Horseback | |
| Director: | Jacques Tourneur |
| Producer: | Robert Goldstein |
| Screenplay: | Herb Meadow Don Martin |
| Story: | Louis L'Amour |
| Starring: | Joel McCrea |
| Music: | Paul Dunlap |
| Cinematography: | Ray Rennahan |
| Editing: | William B. Murphy |
| Studio: | Leonard Goldstein Productions Robert Goldstein Productions |
| Distributor: | United Artists |
| Runtime: | 66 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
Stranger on Horseback is a 1955 American Anscocolor Western film directed by Jacques Tourneur and starring Joel McCrea. The screenplay is based on a story by Louis L'Amour. It was filmed in and around Sedona, Arizona.
Rick Thorne, a circuit judge, rides into Bannerman and discovers everything in town is controlled by rich rancher Josiah Bannerman and his kin. He meets sheriff Nat Bell and district attorney Buck Streeter and asks why Bannerman's arrogant son, Tom, got away with killing a man without an arrest or trial.
Offered no assistance, Thorne stands up to Tom and then jails him. He becomes acquainted with Bannerman's beautiful niece, Amy Lee, who is attracted to Thorne but doubts her cousin Tom is a cold-blooded killer.
Thorne finds allies in Caroline and Vince Webb, who own a gun shop and are willing to testify with evidence against Tom in court. Thorne realizes he needs to sneak Tom and the Webbs to a different town if he's to get a fair trial. Bannerman and his men pursue them, and Amy Lee watches as Tom deliberately causes Vince Webb's death. In time, Thorne gets the prisoner to the next town safely, and Amy Lee goes to court to back him up.