The Law and Jake Wade

Robert Taylor star as Marshal Jake Wade in John Sturges's Western melodrama of a thief turned sheriff. Settled down in a quiet town, former bank robber Jake is suddenly confronted by former colleague Clint Hollister (Richard Widmark). After Jake arranges his release from a regional jail, Clint reminds him of the money he buried in Comanche territory after one of their jobs and suggests that he turn it over to him. When this method fails, Clint kidnaps Jake's fiancée, Peggy (Patricia Owens), and leverages her to get Jake to lead a digging party to the location of the money. When they reach the burial spot, a ghost town in the middle of nowhere, they find themselves under attack by a Comanche war party. Clint momentarily forgets the stash as the small band engages in a nightlong battle to survive. This standard Western is enlivened by Widmark's snarling bad guy turn and the elegant compositions of Robert Surtees. (official distributor synopsis)