In the quiet frontier town of Bitters, Wyoming, a dispute between cattleman Blaise Starrett (Robert Ryan) and farmer Hal Crane (Alan Marshal) is about to boil over into a bloody feud. But the fighting takes a back seat to a new threat when a rogue cavalry captain, Jack Bruhn (actor and singer Burl Ives), rides into town with his band of thugs.

In this beautifully shot, psychologically complex western, Van Heflin is a mild-mannered cattle rancher who takes on the task of shepherding a captured outlaw (played with cucumber-cool charisma by Glenn Ford) to the train that will deliver him to prison. This apparently simple mission turns into a nerve-racking cat-and-mouse game that tests each man’s particular brand of honor.

Rugged cowboy Glyn McLyntock (James Stewart) struggles to hide his dark past as he guides a wagon train through the treacherous Oregon wilderness. To help the settlers survive the hostile conditions, he must choose his allies wisely and confront the ghosts of his former self when he rescues thief Emerson Cole (Arthur Kennedy) from execution.

California-bound rancher Ben Warren (Rock Hudson) is shot and left for dead when a demented ex-Confederate, Frank Slayton (Phil Carey), kidnaps his Southern bride-to-be (Donna Reed). Revived, Ben sets out to rescue her. Along the way, he picks up Jess Burgess (Leo Gordon), a slighted former member of Slayton's gang, and American Indian local Johash (Pat Hogan), who has his own beef with the outlaws.

Hollywood legend Barbara Stanwyck saddled up with writer-director Samuel Fuller for the pulp maestro’s most audacious western, a boldly feminist spin on the genre that pivots effortlessly between ribald humor, visceral action, and disarming tenderness.

On the outskirts of town, the hard-nosed Vienna (Joan Crawford) owns a saloon frequented by the undesirables of the region, including Dancin' Kid (Scott Brady) and his gang. Another patron of Vienna's establishment is Johnny Guitar (Sterling Hayden), a former gunslinger and her lover.

Mysterious motivations drive taciturn bounty hunter Ben Brigade (Randolph Scott) to capture a wanted murderer—but his quest is complicated when he is accosted by a pair of outlaws who have their own inscrutable reasons for riding along.