20 Mule Team (1940) on Netflix

Plot summary

In 1892 the borax deposits of Death Valley are running thin, and the Desert Borax Company can barely cover what it owes the drivers of its mule teams. Skinner Bill Bragg, one of those drivers, is behind on his rent to Josie Johnson, who owns the saloon at Furnace Flat, and she turns him out. Stag Roper comes to town, talks the bank into extending the company's credit, and goes looking for a better deposit. He also takes an interest in Josie's daughter Jean. Roper learns that Bragg has borax crystals from Chuckwalla, a prospector who died in the desert, and that Bragg is wanted for murder. With that held over him, Bragg agrees to help find the claim.