Set in northern Australia before World War II, an English aristocrat who inherits a sprawling ranch reluctantly pacts with a stock-man in order to protect her new property from a takeover plot. As the pair drive 2,000 head of cattle over unforgiving landscape, they experience the bombing of Darwin, Australia, by Japanese forces firsthand.
In a bravura performance, Broderick Crawford won the 1949 Academy Award for Best Actor with his stunning portrayal of bullheaded backwoods lawyer Willie Stark in the powerful drama about political and personal corruption.