Vincent Sherman directed The Second Time Around, a mildly engaging Western comedy starring Debbie Reynolds as a feisty widow, based on the novel Star in the West by Richard Emery Roberts.
Reynolds plays the feisty and resourceful Lu Rogers, a recent widow who leaves her children in New York with her mother-in-law and travels west to take a job.
Upon arriving in Arizona, the job falls through, so farmer Aggie Gates (Thelma Ritter) tries her out as a hired hand.
Lu is courted by two potential suitors, Dan Jones (Steve Forest), a saloon owner, and Pat Collins (Andy Griffith), a rancher.
When she exposes a crooked sheriff, Lu is offered his job, prompting the humiliated sheriff to kidnap her.
Lu is rescued by a posse, and she uses the reward money to send for her kids. Dan wins her hand, while Pat accepts her badge.
Cast
Debbie Reynolds as Lucretia Rogers
Steve Forrest as Dan Jones
Andy Griffith as Pat Collins
Juliet Prowse as Rena Mitchell
Thelma Ritter as Aggie Gates
Ken Scott as Sheriff Burns
Isobel Elsom as Mrs. Rogers
Rudolph Acosta as Rodriguez
Timothy Carey as Bonner
Note:
TCM showed the movie on May 21, 2020.