Cattle baron Matt Debow (Minor Watson) runs a herd so large that his own land is not sufficient - but fortunately his land provides the only access to an expansive stretch of open range that the Government has allocated to settlers. Of course, the Denbows will not allow anyone to pass through their land to get to this open range, which riles up the local newspaper magnate, Clayton Vance (Douglas Spencer). Helping old man Debow are his hothead son, Glenn Debow (Scott Brady) and his responsible adopted nephew, Kirk Debow (Joseph Cotten). The Debows have a stranglehold on the town, but things get complicated when Glenn crashes a local dance and upsets his saloon girl sweetheart Lottie (Suzan Ball), causing her to spurn him. To get back at her, Glenn lays the charm on local lady Jane Stevens (Shelley Winters) who quickly falls for Glenn. That doesn't sit well with Jane's boyfriend Charlie (Richard Garland) who confronts Glenn, but gets a bullet in his gut for his trouble. Jane is the only witness who can testify whether or not the killing was in self defense, but Glenn hatches a scheme to exploit a Texas law which states that a wife cannot testify against a husband. He sweeps Jane off her feet and quickly marries her, then almost immediately ignores her and goes back to Lottie, who herself is very unhappy with the situation. In the meantime, newspaperman Vance has put the word out that there is land for the taking beyond the Denbow Ranch, and an army of homesteaders has gathered with the intention of forcing their way onto the free government land - setting up a potentially deadly confrontation!

Director Hugo Fregonese gave cinematographer Charles Boyle complete autonomy here, and the result is a very interesting mix of highlights in dark backgrounds. Notice the large number of twilight long shots, and medium gray walls with black shutters, couches and ironmongery. It all gives a fascinating "worn parchment" look to the movie; even Miss Winters' hair looks more gray than blond. This makes the white-faced cattle and the occasional splashes of bright color far more dramatic. Long shadows in the brightest-lit scenes give them a "late afternoon" look, as if to indicate we are seeing the end of the day regarding the dominance of the Denbow Ranch. The acting talent on display here is impeccable - Shelley Winters and Joseph Cotten need no introduction to film buffs, Scott Brady is great as the wild, double-talking sleazeball scoundrel, and that's Minor Watson as the gruff head of the ranch - and if you look close, you can see Lee van Cleef and Fess Parker (in his first screen appearance) in the cast. And I would be remiss if I did not mention the beautiful and talented Suzan Ball, whose life was cut short by cancer at only 22 years of age. This was one of eight films she made, and she shows here she had the makings of a star. There is no doubt had she lived longer she would have gone on to bigger and better things.