Plot Summary

In the 1870s New Mexico territory, T.C. Jeffords (Walter Huston) is a cattle baron who built his ranch, The Furies, from scratch. He borrows from banks, pays hired hands with his own scrip ("T.C.s"), and carries on low-level warfare with the Mexicans who settled the land but are now considered squatters. He has enemies, including Rip Darrow (Wendell Corey), a saloon owner from whose father T.C. took land. His headstrong daughter Vance (Barbara Stanwyck) has a lifelong friend in one of the Mexicans, her heart set on Rip, and dad's promise that she will run The Furies someday. Her hopes are smashed by Rip's revenge, a gold-digger who turns T.C.'s head, and T.C.'s own murderous imperialism. Is Vance to be cursed by fury and hatred?