After coming off a desert where he lost his horse, Bret Maverick is grateful for any kind of rescue. Rescue comes in the form of the Belcastles an English family
which has bought a cattle ranch because it sounds like jolly good spot. The Belcastles include Seymour Green, Joan Elan , and the head of the clan Reginald Owen.
When back on the desert these three and James Garner are stripped of horses, water, food, and weapons and left stranded Garner is the only one who has
some idea of what he's doing. But he's stymied by Owen who says by class
he is the natural leader of the bunch.
Owen was the perfect characterization of the famous British cartoon figure
from between the World Wars, Colonel Blimp. Blimp was this smug self
satisfied aristocratic type who thought the British Empire was put on earth to
bring law and order to the planet and it will last forever because God intends
it so.
Anyway Garner is at his wit's end with this thick as a brick Englishman. But
that's the fun in this Maverick story.