Stars Henry Fonda, Anthony Perkins, Betsy Palmer, Neville Brand, John McIntire and Lee Van Cleef.

Former lawman turned bounty hunter, Morgan “Morg” Hickman arrives at a small western town hauling the body of a notorious outlaw. He’s there to claim his reward, and given the fact that people on both sides of the law have little regard for bounty hunters, he’s not surprised at the cold reception he gets.

Morg meets with the sheriff, and discovers this is a town in transition. The former sheriff of 20 years was recently killed, and inexperienced, timid Ben Owens was appointed as the temporary replacement, until townsfolk can vote on who they want protecting and defending their lives. Even Ben has little respect for the cynical, straight-talking Morg.

While waiting for Ben to confirm the identity of the dead outlaw, so he can collect his reward, Morg goes to the town livery stable, as it seems he’ll be in town for longer than expected. There he meets young Kip Mayfield. He takes a liking to the child, and the boy to him. When Kip hears Morg has nowhere to spend the night, he invites him to his home. Kip’s mother, a widow, agrees to let Morg stay with them. Having been married to an Indian, she, like Morg, is an outcast, and their attraction to each other is strong.

Morg returns to town to find ruthless bully, Bart Bogardus, the cousin of the outlaw Morg killed, has shot a “half-breed” in cold blood, though he claims it was self-defense. He and Ben are in a showdown, with a clearly nervous Ben telling Bart to put down his weapon. When Bart raises his gun to shoot Ben, whose job he wants, Morg shoots the gun out of his hand. Ben would rather talk an outlaw into surrendering than use his gun.

Ben is astounded when Morg lets slip that he, too, once wore the badge, and, in fact, had a long career as a sheriff. When the judge lets Bart go, Ben asks Morg to teach him how to be a better sheriff, because he is determined to keep the job. Morg agrees, and not a minute too soon, as two gunmen have killed a stagecoach driver outside of town. Ben asks Morg to join a posse, but he refuses, as he swore he would never wear a badge again.

After collecting his reward, Morg prepares to leave town, but then another murder strikes at the very heart of the town, and when Kip goes missing, Morg must decide whether to hightail it out of town hanging onto his grief and anger, or once again, put on the badge, and help Ben in the fight of his life.