Dr Joe Frail (Gary Cooper in his last western film), trying to forget an unhappy past, drifts from town to town until in the mid-1870s he sets up practice in Skull Creek, a wild Montana gold mining camp.
Grubb (George C. Scott), the local preacher and phoney faith-healer, takes exception to the loss of business but finds Frail can use a gun as well as a scalpel.
But the worthy doctor hits trouble when he saves the life of a boy called Rune (Ben Piazza) who has stolen gold – a crime which could lead to death under “the hanging tree”.
Dr Joseph ‘Doc’ Frail
Gary Cooper
Elizabeth Mahler
Maria Schell
Frenchy Plante
Karl Malden
George Grubb
George C. Scott
Tom Flaunce
Karl Swenson
Edna Flaunce
Virginia Gregg
Society Red
John Dierkes
Wonder
King Donovan
Rune
Ben Piazza
Director
Delmer Daves
