| Director | Joshua Logan |
|---|---|
| Budget | $2.2 million |
| Box office | $7.3 million |
A naive, unintelligent, socially inept, loud-mouth cowboy, Beauregard "Bo" Decker, and his friend and father-figure Virgil Blessing take the bus from Timber Hill, Montana, to Phoenix, Arizona, to participate in a rodeo. Virgil has encouraged the 21-year-old virgin Bo to take an interest in women. Initially reluctant and frightened of the idea, Beau declares that he hopes to find an "angel" and will know her when he sees her. Making trouble everywhere they go, he continues his unsophisticated behavior in Grace's Diner. In Phoenix, at the Blue Dragon Café, he imagines himself in love with the café's chanteuse, Chérie, an ambitious performer from River Gulch, Arkansas (in the Ozarks) with aspirations of becoming a Hollywood star. Her rendition of "That Old Black Magic" entrances him and he forces her outside, despite the establishment's rules against it, kisses her and thinks that means they are engaged. Chérie is physically attracted to him but resists his plans to take her back to Montana. She has no intention of marrying him and tells him so, but he is too stubborn to listen. advertisement from 1956]] The next day, Bo obtains a marriage license, and then takes an exhausted Chérie to the rodeo parade and the rodeo, where he rides the bucking bronco and then competes in the calf-roping and the bull-riding. Bo intends to marry Chérie at the rodeo, but she runs away. He tracks her down at the Blue Dragon Café, where she jumps out a rear window and flees. Bo catches her and forces her onto the bus back to Montana. On the way, they stop at Grace's Diner, the same place the bus stopped on the way to Phoenix. Chérie tries to make another getaway while Bo is asleep on the bus, but the road ahead is blocked by a blizzard, leaving the passengers stranded in the diner. The bus driver, Carl, the waitress, Elma, and the café owner, Grace, by now all have learned that Bo is kidnapping and bullying Chérie. Virgil and Carl fight him until he promises to apologize to Chérie and leave her alone. He, however, is unable to do so because he is humiliated about having been beaten.
The next morning, the storm has cleared and everybody is free to go. Bo finally apologizes to Chérie for his abusive behavior and begs her forgiveness. He wishes her well and prepares to depart without her. Chérie approaches him and confesses that she has had many boyfriends and is not the kind of woman he thinks she is. Bo confesses his lack of experience to her. Bo asks to kiss her goodbye and they share their first real kiss. All Chérie wanted from a man was respect, which she had previously told Elma when they sat together on the bus. This new Bo attracts Chérie. He accepts her past, explaining that everything she's previously done made her into the person that he likes now, and this gesture touches her heart. She tells him that she will go anywhere with him. Virgil decides to stay behind. When Bo tries to coerce him to go with them, Chérie reminds him that he cannot force Virgil to do what he wants. Having finally apparently learned his lesson, Bo offers Chérie his jacket and gallantly helps her onto the bus.