Town marshal Ronald Reagan plans to retire when he gets married, but, almost inevitably, is called on to fight one more battle against the bad guys. At first his brother (Alex Nicol) becomes the lawman, but soon Reagan is persuaded to rid the town of Preston Foster's criminal gang. Meanwhile, Reagan's fiancee (Dorothy Malone) prepares for imminent widowhood. The theme recalls High Noon, and, like Gary Cooper, Reagan is the silent, brooding type. However, that's where the comparisons end in this third remake of the superior 1932 original starring Walter Huston.

Frame Johnson's attempt to settle down in Tombstone is interrupted when a mob tries to mete out some frontier justice.