Looking to outrun his past, embittered doctor Joseph Frail (Gary Cooper) hung his shingle in a Montana gold rush town. The locals were leery, however, and after he fatefully interceded in the attempt of a lecherous prospector (Karl Malden) to assault a traumatized immigrant (Maria Schell), he found himself facing mob justice at their hands. Intelligent, psychological western co-stars Ben Piazza, Virginia Gregg, and, in his big-screen debut, George C. Scott.