Reuniting in their hometown of Clearwater, Texas, to attend their mother's funeral, gunfighter John Elder (John Wayne), gambler Tom (Dean Martin), hardware dealer Matt (Earl Holliman), and student Bud (Michael Anderson Jr.) find that their father has gambled away the family's ranch, only to be murdered afterward. The outraged brothers want to get to the bottom of this mystery, but find themselves framed for the killing of the local sheriff by a violent entrepreneur (James Gregory) who will stop at nothing to take over the entire town. Loosely based on a true story, this 1965 western features a score by Elmer Bernstein.

"[This film] is a good, tough, unpretentious and gory [western] with a professional stamp and a laconic bite. It has, most unobtrusively, an ace director Henry Hathaway, who knows exactly how to spike menace and mayhem with authentic settings and excellent color.... [Wayne] is in a part that fits him with bullet precision. The other three 'brothers' lend able, lithe assistance. Martha Hyer, Paul Fix, John Doucette and Jeremy Slate do well in neat character vignettes."—NYTimes