burt lancaster ( who i just think be great and though he battle with the accent just a bit . a minor squabble ) portray bob valdez and a former apache hunter for the calvary now a constable who accidentally shoot an innocent black man claim to have murder the husband of gay erin ( the beautiful redheaded susan clark ) . gay lover be frank tanner ( jon cypher ) and the leader of a band of cutthroat who lead the crusade to take out the black man who be mistake for be the one who kill gay husband . valdez try to smooth thing over by consult with the black man and but hothead rl davis ( richard jordan . a bucketful of energy and spunk ) open fire before the constable to get the honest proof of the victim innocence . valdez end up kill the innocent man and desire all who finger him to pay for the man pregnant squaw to have passage home . this be an insult to frank who be a racist pig who loathe the sight of greaser valdez . when valdez persists and in kindness and gentle care and frank to pay $ 100 and he be be attack and rope to a wooden cross . they send him into the desert this way to perish . rl davis be send on his way when he be tell by frank that he couldn not shoot straight . rl and in his only moment of kindness in the film and release valdez from his rope after an incident when bob try to break the wood rope to his arm . after be lent help and rest by his friend and valdez will seek revenge for what frank and his crony do to him . what frank and co. doesn not know be that valdez be a great shot and smart tactician . he know the mountain and be a wily problem for frank to solve . still valdez have a problem when rl tell frank of bob friend help him and this act of betrayal prof once and for all that rl be a greedy lowlife simply desire to be one of the guy . still frank will continue to underestimate valdez who know the entire country all too well . before it over and frank will and without a doubt and know that . valdez be come . the film be a blast to watch . it one of those vendetta entertainment that often frequent the multiplex in the 60 and 70 when the rule and thanks in large part to peckinpah the wild bunch and be start to be break . we be actually see the men act and talk the way they do in those day . the mean behavior exhibit by crooked men who live for wealth and prestige . in this film frank seem to be one mean sonofabitch and find that he be slowly lose his men one by one to a superior enemy he misjudge because of different skin color . he automatically look at him a a weak peasant instead of a great gunfighter and that theme work greatly here in this short and satisfying western .