The Pinnacle Rider

Jack is a man defined by what he has left behind: the claustrophobic 'walled cities' of the early 20th century and the grasping reach of his own kin. Having inherited a sprawling ranch, he seeks the sanctity of the open range, only to find his peace shattered by the arrival of an overbearing aunt, her dim-witted son Cyril, and a young woman caught in their orbit. In a desperate, albeit poorly conceived, attempt to reclaim his solitude, Jack enlists his cook to announce his sudden demise. The plan backfires spectacularly. Instead of mourning, the relatives immediately set about claiming the property as their rightful inheritance. Jack, now a ghost in his own home, adopts the persona of a notorious local outlaw to scare the interlopers and impress the heroine. The charade collapses when real criminals arrive, forcing Jack to trade his theatrical villainy for actual heroism to save the very people he tried to exile.