Griff Bonnell (Sullivan) and his brothers arrive in a small, Arizona town. He is a U.S. Marshal looking to arrest Howard Swain (Chuck Roberson), coincidentally one of landowner Jessica Drummond’s (Stanwyck) 40 guns. The town is being terrorized and trashed by Brockie and his boys. He’s an arrogant drunk and bully but when he shoots an old buddy of Griff’s, he and his brothers intervene.
Griff strides purposefully towards the action, unconcerned at the mayhem going on. Brockie’s buddies recognize the lawman and flee but the drunk Brockie doesn’t know or care. Fuller cuts back and forth between a close-up of Griff’s eyes and Brockie’s gun repeatedly until the climax when Griff finally reaches Rocky and knocks him unconscious with a punch. Griff and Jessica inevitably cross paths and their relationship starts off as antagonistic but eventually blossoms into a romance.