It was directed by Roy Rowland and produced by Robert Sisk from an original screenplay by Isobel Lennart and William Kozlenko.

Quietly planning to go duck hunting, John Josephus (Joe) Grant, a U.S. Supreme Court justice, tells his secretary Lucy Gilbert where he will be but no one else.

There he discovers honest lawyer Bill Adams, running for mayor against the incumbent, Connison, someone he considers to be corrupt.

Judge Austin Harkley, businessman Blaxton and even the sheriff appear to be in the mayor's pocket, and when Bill is insulted and throws a punch, they conspire to keep him in jail.

He helps free Bill in the first legal dispute, then does likewise for Lucy after she shows up and is denied a room at the local hotel for no good reason.