丹斯雷(柯克•道格拉斯Kirk Douglas 饰)是一名流浪的牛仔,一次偶然之中,他结识了名为杰夫(威廉•坎贝尔William Campbell 饰)的男子,两人之间结下了深厚的友谊。在老相好艾多妮(克莱尔•特雷弗Claire Trevor 饰)的介绍之下,丹斯雷和杰夫来到了工头司翠普(杰伊•C•弗利朋Jay C. Flippen 饰)手下干活。 波恩小姐(珍妮•克雷恩Jeanne Crain 饰)成为了丹斯雷和杰夫的新老板,一连串的误会和意外让丹斯雷决定辞职走人,但是波恩小姐极力挽留。最终,丹斯雷决定直面他惨淡的过去。然而最终,丹斯雷还是无法习惯受制于人的生活,他辞去了农场的工作,重新踏上了旅途,做回了自由自在的流浪牛仔。Dempsey Rae, a cowboy with no clear aim in life, winds up working on a spread with a hard lady owner just arrived from the East. She needs a tough new top hand and uses all her means of persuasion to get Rae to take the job. But he doesn't like the way the other settlers are getting treated and starts to side with them, despite their introduction of the barbed wire he loathes.