Charles Laughton plays Kidd, a merchant captain who cons the King of England into allowing him to take to the sea to recover a lost treasure and escort a ship back to London. An old fellow conspirator who he thought dead (John Carradine) and a mysterious young man (Randolph Scott) manage to get on board and cause problems for Kidd.

When half-breed Indian Yaqui Joe (Burt Reynolds) robs an Arizona bank, he is pursued by dogged lawman Lyedecker (Jim Brown). When Lyedecker meets beautiful Yaqui freedom fighter Sarita (Raquel Welch) he begins to question his allegiances.