George Segal is a Confederate soldier who returns from the war to find the Union townspeople have seized his farm and hired a gunfighter to kill him. Written and directed by Richard Wilson, an associate of Orson Welles back in the Mercury theatre and Citizen Kane days, it's an allegory about political exile and conformity that spends too much time in debate at the expense of action. Nevertheless, it's an engrossing effort, lifted by a knockout performance from Yul Brynner as the elegant, Creole gunfighter Jules Gaspard D'Estaing — and you'd better pronounce that right — a role he turned into an android for the sci-fi film Westworld.

Halliwell's Film Guide

Predictable, rather self-satisfied little Western with a studio look. Smart script and performances.