Mysterious drifter Cruze (George Montgomery) meets tinhorn gambler Fairweather (Frank Faylen) and the two form a fast friendship. They ride into town and immediately Fairweather runs afoul of the local thugs, the Moran brothers (Robert J. Wilke, Douglas Kennedy, and Neville Brand). Cruze beats the snot out of all three toughs, and this lands him the job as the town marshal. Among the Moran's criminal enterprises is cattle rustling and they've got a perfect hideout on the spread of brother and sister Dorothy Malone and Skip Homeier. Homeier is in the Morans' pocket due to some gambling debts. The Moran's aren't about to allow Cruze the newcomer disrupt their plans. They break jail and terrorize the town, and the locals refuse to join in on a posse. So, it's up to Cruze to take on all three--and hopefully rescue their prisoner, his buddy Fairweather.

Here we have a better than average b-western from 1954 which sees surly loner George Montgomery hired as the lawman of a town as he is the only man prepared to stand up to a trio of bad-guy brothers led by a chunky Neville Brand. A brisk pace and competent performances make this an enjoyable watch. Cast are fine, with Montgomery doing his usual reliable and likable guy act, Brand doing another in his line of scumbags - backed by Kennedy and Wilke, and even though she's saddled with the token lady role that's sparsely written, Malone leaves a nice impression regardless. Bonus is Faylen, who as card conman Fairweather, shines in a cheeky chappie role, with quips and a glint in his eye even when he's in danger, Faylen enjoys himself in creating this fun character. Some good stunt work rounds it out as a safe and enjoyable Oater for fans of such. Cue fisticuffs and shootings (including a particularly cold blooded murder), some nifty ambush sequences, a tension packed poker game and some neat dialogue - "one yell and you'll be waking up in a devil's cookhouse".