Matt (John Wayne) is an angry young man because his father abandoned him as a child and left his mother to die. He swears he would kill his father if he ever saw him again. Mild-mannered stranger Daniel Howitt (Harry Carey) arrives and treats Jim Lane’s (Tom Fadden) gunshot wounds. His daughter Sammy (Betty Field) is appreciative. Daniel aims to settle in the region, but is coldly greeted by Matt. Anyway, Daniel buys Moanin’ Meadow for a $1,000, the home of Matt’s mother, which angers Matt. Sammy visits Daniel and he says that Matt is his son. Later we learn he abandoned the family because he murdered a man and was sent to prison. He’s now a reformed man and has come back to make up for his mispent life and to reconcile with his son–to save him from taking the wrong path.

It plays as a Christian parable that relates how kindness can bring love into the world and change things for the better. It’s a slow moving film, not the kind the action star Wayne is usually associated with. In its own quiet way it was effective and well-acted, especially by Wayne.