Tennessee (John Payne) is a suave professional gambler in an American gold rush town. When a disgruntled former opponent tries to shoot Tennessee in the back, he is saved by Cowpoke (Ronald Reagan) – a romantic gold miner who has come to town to get married.

Allan Dwan’s Tennessee’s Partner (1955) is an amiable enough western, with elements of melodrama, action, and comedy, but what stands out the most about it now is that it co-stars future American President Ronald Reagan. Few things in American history feel quite so innately American as a B-grade movie cowboy shifting from Hollywood to politics and leading the free world just 25 years later. It turns out Reagan is not too bad an actor either: he is limited for sure, but in an earnest and charming western he honestly fits right in.

The lead role in Tennessee’s Partner goes to Tennessee himself, played elegantly by John Payne. Payne plays the role with a lot of charisma and humour: he needs to, because the character is comically disreputable. He gambles and nearly always wins – the film never makes it clear if he is a cheat, but half the town seem to think so. He also maintains an unmarried relationship with brothel operator Elizabeth “Duchess” Farnham (Rhonda Fleming), much to the town’s consternation and Duchess’ own resigned disappointment. Fleming is good in her role, and uncharacteristically strong-willed for the times.

The film is essentially split into three sections. In the first, Tennessee and Cowpoke meet one another in violent circumstances and prepare for the arrival of Cowpoke’s fiancee Goldie (Coleen Gray). In the second Tennessee comes to realise Goldie is not the blushing bride she claims to be, and tries to break up the impending marriage. In the third, resentment in town over Tennessee’s good fortune spills into a murder plot and a mystery over a stolen map. This is not a long film – 81 minutes or so – and the switches back from one story to another force an extremely rapid pace and a surfeit of energy. This may not be the most sophisticated or accomplished of westerns, but it rattles along at a breakneck pace and never gives the audience time to falter.

John Payne and Ronald Reagan were close friends in real life; this is the only feature they made together. Director Allan Dwan was a career veteran from the early days of Hollywood: his first film was released in 1913, and he made more than 120 of them by the time he retired in 1961. Tennessee’s Partner shows all of the signs of a workhorse director: solidly made, never flashy, and efficient. Watch it when you’re bored on a Sunday afternoon.