In his first starring role, Charles Bronson is a US Deputy Marshal who comes into a small western town, hunting Thomas Browne Henry. There's a bounty on him for killing three men, and when he draws on Bronson, Bronson shoots him down. The town doesn't like it. Henry was a popular figure, ready to sell a string of cattle below price, and wait for his money, so long as you didn't ask where he got them. No one will name him, and so Bronson waits around for a positive identification, so he can collect his bounty money. While he waits, he falls in love with Fintan Mayler, the shy daughter of the town's local bad woman, Carole Matthews. While he waits, there's lots of philosophizing from John Carradine, the town's barber, doctor, and fellow who reads over graves.
Gene Fowler Jr's movie makes its points about violence and loneliness, but does so in too obvious a manner, afraid to let the audience draw its own conclusion. There are plenty of swooping crane shots by cinematographer John M. Nickolaus Jr., straight out of HIGH NOON to make sure we realize this is an important psychological movie.
The performances are good, but everyone tries too hard to make this a superior movie.