Gregory Peck is Jimmy Ringo, notorious killer and the deadliest shot in the Old West. Though his appetite for bloodletting is over, Ringo is forced to stay on the run from young gunners determined to shoot the great man down. After killing an upstart in self-defence, he escapes from the boys vengeful brothers to the nearby town of Cayenne. There, he hopes to convince his estranged wife (Helen Westcott) to resume their life together, but his arrival causes a sensation. With more young bucks gunning for him, Ringos fate lies in the hands of the sheriff (Millard Mitchell), his old bandit partner.