George Montgomery is Gid McCool, a tough, no-nonsense Federal Marshal who is in charge of transporting scumbags to the Huntsville State Prison. But when he's tasked with transporting a violent psychopath by the name of Hank Pleasant (Leo Gordon), he decides he needs a deputy to make sure it all goes smoothly. Lacking any available lawmen, he 'encourages' Mike Reno (Tab Hunter), a young punk already in custody, to assist him. Among the other prisoners along for the ride is the mostly harmless Angel Dominguez (Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez), obnoxious white-collar criminal R. C. Crawford (Robert Emhardt) and the mysterious Laura Mannon (Yvonne DeCarlo), accused of murdering her abuser. The ride is tense and unfriendly, but things get worse when family members of Hank Pleasant round up a posse, determined to set him free!

Sporting a great cast and a so-bad-it's-good plot, this is a fun little Western that gives some of the aging stars of the day a vehicle to return to the screen. George Montgomery is well cast as the grizzled U.S. Marshall who's saddled with the task of transporting the wagon train of convicted felons to a state prison in Texas. Tab Hunter, playing his umpteenth juvenile role while in his mid-thirties, does well with the familiar part and also has the most obvious stunt double you've ever seen! Yvonne De Carlo, sporting what are possibly the longest fake eyelashes in cinema history, is well past her prime but still has quite the radiance about her. There's not a single stereotype left unplayed in this fun little time-capsule!