Randolph Scott plays a ranch hand who boards the wrong stagecoach, soon to be waylaid by Richard Boone and his outlaws, with heiress Maureen O’Sullivan held for ransom by the gang. The third of the seven-film Ranown Cycle is an exemplary summit meeting of top Western chroniclers, with Budd Boetticher skillfully blending tension and wit in his handling of Burt Kennedy’s taut script. Based on Elmore Leonard’s story “The Captive,” the first of the author’s works to reach the big screen.