Howard Hawks's final film once again teams him with John Wayne, with a script by Leigh Brackett (who also wrote his 'El Dorado' and 'Rio Bravo').

The time is just after the end of the Civil War. Wayne is Union Colonel Cord McNally, who is teamed with two Confederate soldiers he captured during the war in order to take down a thieving bootlegger. Their travels take them to a small town being held in terror by an evil Sheriff. McNally and his crew decide to help the townspeople with their own brand of justice...