Western featuring two of Hollywood's greatest leading men. Glenn Ford stars as Owen Devereaux, a sadistic Civil War veteran who continues to kill for the joy of it, even after he becomes a judge. William Holden plays Del Stewart, Devereaux's marshal & ex-army pal who tries to restrain the judge's violent nature. When Devereaux's psychotic behavior forces the townspeople to take up arms against him, the former friends are pitted against each other in a brutal conflict with fatal consequences.