Former inmate and alcoholic Ben Chamberlain comes to a railway town inquiring about a woman, of whom all seem afraid to speak; he receives a beating just for asking.

Although they catch him in the desert, the sheriff prevents his being lynched and gives him a horse and a head-start chance to reach the border.

Chamberlain meets a lonely, widowed homesteader, a woman whose troubles also include a son who aspires to be a gunman, but does not have the steely nature it takes.

Its muted tans, dusty atmosphere and the feeling of most of the inhabitants that the town is in the grip of a force stronger than itself pervades the film.

"[3]Kass adds: "By constructing a narrow world where good confronts evil, often within the same personality, Seigel’s films show the audience his preoccupations.