The Virginian is a 1946 American Western film directed by Stuart Gilmore and starring Joel McCrea, Brian Donlevy, Sonny Tufts, and Barbara Britton.

The Virginian is about an eastern school teacher who comes to Medicine Bow in Wyoming and encounters life on the frontier.

There have been several versions of the story, beginning with a 1914 film directed by Cecil B. DeMille and including a 1960s television series that bore little relation to the book other than the title.

On arrival, she is frightened by a spooked steer, and is rescued by the Virginian, only to discover the mild animal is a little girl's pet.

Before setting out on a long cattle drive, the Virginian tells Molly she must decide by the time he returns whether they have a future together.

On the trail, Trampas and his men start a stampede, using the distraction to steal a couple of hundred animals.

The basic plot elements of the film were inspired by the 1892 Johnson County War in Wyoming, the archetypal cattlemen-homesteaders conflict, which also served as the background for Shane and Heaven's Gate.

[3] It was the 27th highest grossing film in the United States and Canada for the year with theatrical rentals of $3.35 million.