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Hoot Gibson is left with a foundling on his hands while trying to fend off an evil land-grabber in this slow-moving early sound western produced by Gibson himself for release by Universal. "The Hooter" was nearing the end of his reign as a western star, not only due to advancing age (there were other movie cowboys in their forties) but because of a series of foolhardy financial and personal decisions. Among the latter, none had more consequence than Gibson's preoccupation with starlet Sally Eilers, his leading lady in this and two other westerns. In Roaring Ranch Gibson protects Eilers from villainous land-grabber Wheeler Oakman and does it Gibson style: without the use of firearms. The film was slow, too slow compared to "the Hooter's" silent westerns. Early sound equipment was partially to blame, of course, but it didn't help matters that the star had eyes only for Eilers, whom he married in June of 1930. The marriage turned into a real-life A Star is Born situation: she became a major star because of the critically acclaimed Bad Girl (1931), while he was for all intent and purposes fired from Universal, his home throughout the 1920s. The marriage could not survive the strain, and the Gibson-Eilers union was dissolved in September of 1933.