[2] Based on the 1948 Niven Busch novel of the same name, its plot follows the ruthless daughter of a tyrannical rancher in 1870s New Mexico Territory who struggles with her stake in his estate.

Released in August 1950 by Paramount Pictures, the film was a financial failure but would gain a reputation as a "Freudian Western" and is recognized among Mann's greatest contributions to the genre.

[4] Temple Caddy "T. C." Jeffords is an elderly, tyrannical and arrogant cattle baron who owns a sprawling property in the New Mexico Territory called the Furies.

T. C.'s beloved daughter Vance is as obsessed with wealth and as ruthless as is her father, although she has a secret, close bond with Juan Herrera, whom she has known since childhood.

One day, he brings a woman home to the Furies, Flo Burnett, who plans to marry T. C. for his money.

Enraged by this news, Vance hurls a pair of scissors at Flo's face, permanently disfiguring her.

Seeking vengeance, Vance travels throughout the American West, buying all of the "T. C." notes and dramatically eroding her father's wealth.

They conspire to deceive T. C. by planting a false hope that a wealthy California investor will lend him the funds to save the Furies.

When T. C. arrives at the bank to receive his loan, he is met by Vance and Rip and offered a crate of $140,000 of his own "T. C." notes, now worthless.

[5] In a 1957 interview, director Anthony Mann stated that he felt that the screenplay shared several similarities to the Fyodor Dostoevsky novel The Idiot.

[3] The Criterion Collection released the film on DVD on November 21, 2008, billing it as a "hidden treasure of American filmmaking.

[9] In a contemporary review for The New York Times, critic A. H. Weiler wrote: "Since Hal B. Wallis, who produced, and Charles Schnee, the scenarist of 'The Furies,' were of a mind to turn out a big or adult-type Western, they can be listed as having achieved their goal.

For this tale ... is more a camera view of personalities than livestock, more fairly entertaining discourse than hard riding and rustlers.