Five or six men who discovered gold at Gila Valley in Arizona were attacked by Apaches and massacred. Jim Slater (Richard Widmark), whose father may have died at Gila Valley, is searching for one survivor who deserted the rest, taking all of the sixty thousand dollars in gold. The deserter never went for help. At the movie's beginning protagonist Slater is digging at an old adobe ruin. He is unknowingly watched by a man carrying a Winchester atop a nearby bluff. A sole woman, Karyl Orton (Donna Reed) rides into his camp, and Slater offers her a cup of coffee. They exchange a few words; Slater tells her he does not care about the gold, but rather the identities of the dead men. Knowing the names of three men, his interest is tracking down the deserter who he believes helped his father to die. Orton is searching for her missing husband, and unlike Slater, the gold. When Slater attempts to fetch Orton's cigarettes from one of her saddlebags, the bushwhacker takes a pot-shot at him (the bullet strikes and ricochets off the saddle). Slater's response is to ride out to the bluff, confront the desperado, and win the shootout. He finds a deputy sheriff's badge on the man and returns to his camp. He believes that he was set up by the woman. She denies the allegation. We have our plot: a serpentine search for a man or gold, or both. Like shifting sand dunes, realities will change along the way.
Slater and Orton arrive in Silver City. Marson (Edward Platt), the sheriff, wants no trouble, so he puts Orton on a stagecoach to Tucson telling her that he is will send her belongings to her (done off-screen). Meanwhile Slater delivers the dead body of the deputy to Marson, telling him he needs to choose his deputies better. Marson identifies the dead man as Tom Welker, who lost a brother at Gila Valley. He also says that the dead bushwhacker still has two surviving brothers (meanies Tony and Jeff Welker, to be played by Harry Morgan and Robert J. Wilke, respectively), who will be looking out to revenge Tom's death. Thus he wants Slater out of town. Before Slater leaves the sheriff provides the name of Sergeant George Lake to help him on his search. As Slater is tracking Lake, he comes across the stage carrying Orton. As they are menaced by Apaches, they hightail to a nearby trading post, which is also under Apache siege. There Slater meets Sergeant Lake (Barton MacLane). Through Slater and Lake, there is a bust-out, but Lake is mortally wounded by an Apache bullet. Before he dies he provides a couple of clues to Slater, especially one that leads to the Carson ranch.
Meanwhile, in Tucson the two surviving Welker brothers, who would like to get their hands on the Gila Valley gold, try to put the pressure on Karyl Orton, who ended up in a saloon. But Slater enters and shoots Jeff Welker dead although he is wounded in the shoulder by Tony Welker (also wounded). Thinking that he was betrayed again by Orton, Slater angrily rides out of town. Orton catches up to him and dresses his wound. She takes off her blouse and bandages the injury. They exchange words, and not only clear up some issues, but become friends. Slater finds out about her checkered past, but she realizes that he is a decent man despite his vindictiveness. We learn that Slater never knew his father, who deserted his family and who may indeed be alive after all. Beyond the halfway point of the film, we get into the oedipal part of the story. At the Carson ranch there are tidings of an impending range war that will involve both Major Carson (Roy Roberts) and his adversary, shadowy Jim Bonniwell (John McIntire). It seems that Bonniwell came to Sierra Blanca (in Texas) with sixty thousand dollars in cash to buy equipment and land, but no cattle. Years of rustling gave him five thousand head. Slater also discovers from Carson the fourth name of those killed in the Apache massacre at Gila Valley. That was Carson's nephew, an ex-Confederate soldier (later it is confirmed that the fifth man was Paul Orton, Karyl's late husband). Slater begins to connect the new facts: It is nearly certain that his father is alive after all, and was in fact the sixth man, the Gila Valley deserter, Jim Bonniwell. So a change is forthcoming in Slater's original intention. In the meantime we have an interesting character, a scene-stealer if there ever was one, psychotic gunslinger Johnny Cool (William Campbell). The director must have been aware of Campbell's on-screen style, as the actor is third-billed, behind stars Widmark and Reed. Ostensibly, quick-draw Cool works for Carson, but really is spying for Bonniwell. To show how fast Cool is, the director has a shootout between him and Tony, last of the Welkers. Cool wins.
When Bonniwell discovers his son, he is at first delighted. But as they cannot reconcile their character differences, there will be a confrontation in the denouement. Carson has massed around a hundred riders against Bonniwell, who has lesser forces but has the advantage of defensive position. So, perhaps the movie's greatest disappointment comes from an ending that could have been terrific. Imagine Johnny Cool going down in flames while shooting from a rooftop! It is fine enough, however.
Richard Widmark made his movie debut as Johnny Udo in "Kiss of Death" (1947). In 1950 he starred in "Halls of Montezuma." After "Backlash" he had large roles in both "Warlock" (1959) and as Jim Bowie in "The Alamo" (1960). He lived almost a century. Donna Reed had major roles in "It's a Wonderful Life" (1947), "From Here to Eternity (1953), and TV's "The Donna Reed Show" (1958-1966). This movie has many positives: gorgeous photography, great actors, first-class storyline, decent action, high-quality music score. What's there not to like, western fans?
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