Gerald Michenaud

After buying up property around a Montana frontier town, land baron Rep Marlowe (Wendell Corey) tries to force out the homesteaders by damming the river, but Marshal Chaddock (Barry Sullivan) fights Marlowe's tactics despite little support from the cowed townsfolk. While Chaddock is on the mend from a snake bite, Marlowe and his henchman (John Russell) hatch a new plan to chase off the settlers -- by gunning down the lawman.

As the biggest high-stake poker game in the West begins, compulsive gambler turned homesteader, Meredith, is drawn into the game. With the entire family fortune at stake, he suffers a heart attack when dealt a winning hand. Mary, his pluck penny-pinching, long-suffering wife, steps in. As she plays the hand, she assails her rivals with fortitude and guts. Each is transformed into a model of sensitivity. But a twist ending reveals Mary has had more than fortitude up her sleeve all along.

As the biggest high-stake poker game in the West begins, compulsive gambler turned homesteader, Meredith, is drawn into the game. With the entire family fortune at stake, he suffers a heart attack when dealt a winning hand. Mary, his pluck penny-pinching, long-suffering wife, steps in. As she plays the hand, she assails her rivals with fortitude and guts. Each is transformed into a model of sensitivity. But a twist ending reveals Mary has had more than fortitude up her sleeve all along.