Good Day for a Hanging (1959)

Eddie Campbell watches a stagecoach as it rides toward a Nebraska town. Other members of his gang are waiting there to rob the bank. Ben Cutler, owner of the stage line, is on board, and is returning home to be wed to Ruth Granger.

During the holdup, a bank teller is killed. Ben joins the posse. His daughter, Laurie, is in love with Eddie and doesn't believe him to be truly bad. Eddie shoots the sheriff, however. He is wounded by Ben and brought back to town to stand trial.

Ben is offered a temporary job as marshal. Selby, a publicity-seeking lawyer who defends Eddie, insinuates that Ben was just acting in vengeance because his client had been intimate with Ben's daughter. Ben punches him for this slur on Laurie's character.

Eddie is found guilty due to Ben's eyewitness testimony. He is sentenced to hang. Townspeople begin to have their doubts, even Ruth, partly due to Eddie's manipulation of their emotions. Laurie tries to smuggle a gun to Eddie's cell, but her father finds it.

Ben must ride to the state's capital after a plea for clemency from the governor is made. As soon as he is gone, Eddie's gang busts him out of jail. He physically assaults Laurie, revealing his true nature. Ben returns just in time, though, and shoots a fleeing Eddie atop the gallows.