It tells the story of an American rancher who, after his wife dies, goes to Italy to marry her sister, but finds that she falls in love with his young ranch hand.

The screenplay was adapted by Arnold Schulman from the 1947 Italian film Fury, which was in turn loosely based on Giovanni Verga's novella La Lupa.

The Italian title was 'Selvaggio è il vento', literal translation of the original English.

Gino (Anthony Quinn) is a sheepherder in Nevada who travels to Italy to marry Gioia (Anna Magnani), the sister of his wife, who died a number of years previously.

She turns outside of her marriage to fulfill her needs and has an affair with Bene (Anthony Franciosa), a ranch hand whom Gino raised from boyhood and considers as almost a son.