On the outskirts of town, the hard-nosed Vienna owns a saloon frequented by the undesirables of the region, including Dancin' Kid and his gang. Another patron of Vienna's establishment is Johnny Guitar, a former gunslinger and her lover. When a heist is pulled in town that results in a man's death, Emma Small, Vienna's rival, rallies the townsfolk to take revenge on Vienna's saloon – even without proof of her wrongdoing.
A beautiful singer and a battling priest try to reform a Barbary Coast saloon owner in the days before the great earthquake and subsequent fires in 1906.
In the turn-of-the century Texas town of Cottownwood Springs, marshal Frank Patch is an old-style lawman in a town determined to become modern. When he kills drunken Luke Mills in self-defense, the town leaders decide it's time for a change. That ask for Patch's resignation, but he refuses on the basis that the town on hiring him had promised him the job for as long as he wanted it. Afraid for the town's future and even more afraid of the fact that Marshal Patch knows all the town's dark secrets, the city fathers decide that old-style violence is the only way to rid themselves of the unwanted lawman.
On a train trip out west to become a mail-order bride, Susan Bradley meets a cheery crew of young women traveling out to open a "Harvey House" restaurant at a remote whistle-stop.
A peace-loving man named Ben Kane takes a job as deputy marshal of Lords, in the old West. Kane is no lawman, but he accepts the badge because he has an old score to settle with the town's chief trouble-maker. Once on the job, Kane must also deal with a young sharpshooter named Billy Young and a sharp and sassy saloon dancer, Lily.
Mexican gunfighter Dave Robles outdraws the town's outlaw-turned-sheriff and is invited to fill the dead man's shoes. But a tin star doesn't bring automatic respectability and Robles is shunned by the town's leading citizens. His popularity with its less-savory element, particularly saloonkeeper Bannister, wanes dramatically, too, as he starts to take his job seriously. It is his love for a decent, caring woman that keeps Dave in town, but can she convince him to lay down his gun and start a new life?
Two ex-cons plan to kill the range rider marshal who sent them to prison and, when their plan fails, join forces with their former boss, a crooked saloon owner who has the same idea.
A Pinkerton detective goes undercover to infiltrate a gang of thieves whose boss is a feisty lady saloonkeeper. Complications ensue.
A man has his eyes set on controlling the Big Sag territory in Montana and hopes to achieve his goal by forcing a newly-arrived family from Texas from their land. Hoping to convince the local saloonkeeper to help him, the man sends his daughter into town with instructions for his potential partner. A storm waylays the daughter during her trip to town and she is forced to stay at the home of her father's intended victims, leading to an interesting turn or two.
A trashy blonde lures a saloon owner away from his wife.
Buck Peters arranges for Hoppy, California, Johnny and other cowboys to go to the aid of friends whose cattle are being rustled. Hoppy and California locate the rustlers' hideout and join the gang by posing as outlaws themselves, but must find a way to let the rest of the posse know where they are.
Mary Robbins is a moderately educated, beautiful, young woman who owns the saloon called "The Poker". She is the only woman in the town of Couldee - making her the fancy of all the men there, especially to Sheriff Jack Rance. On the way to Monterey to sing at a mass officiated by Father Sienna, her stagecoach is held up by the infamous masked bandit, Ramerez. He too takes a fancy to Mary, and decides to secretly follow her, taking on the identity of an officer named, Lieutenant Johnson. While in Monterey, he dances, sings and courts Mary, who has now fallen in love with him. He then has to make a quick getaway. In the mean-time, Sheriff Jack has set up a trap to catch Ramerez at "The Poker". When Ramerez does arrive he soon discovers that Mary is the owner, and quickly changes to the identity of Lieutenant Johnson. How long can this charade last?
Two deputies go undercover to save a scientist from his evil kidnappers.