While surveying a telegraph line in 1861, Western Union engineer Edward Creighton (Dean Jagger) is severely injured in an accident. He is discovered by Vance Shaw (Randolph Scott), an outlaw on the run from a posse. Forced to travel on foot after his horse was hurt, Shaw at first considers stealing Creighton's horse, but changes his mind and takes the man with him, saving his life.
Sometime later, following his recovery, Creighton returns to Omaha, Nebraska and plans the construction of a telegraph line from Omaha to Salt Lake City, Utah. Facing considerable opposition to the line from Confederate soldiers, Indians, and outlaws, Creighton elicits the help of his sister Sue (Virginia Gilmore), foreman Pat Grogan (Minor Watson), and assistant Homer Kettle (Chill Wills).
Looking to put his outlaw past behind him, Shaw arrives at Creighton's Western Union office looking for honest work and is hired as a scout by Grogan who is unaware of his past. Creighton recognizes him among the men and allows him to stay despite his suspicions. Creighton also hires tenderfoot Richard Blake (Robert Young), a Harvard-educated engineer as a favor to Blake's father. Shaw and Blake are both attracted to Sue and vie for her attention, but their romantic rivalry is cut short when construction of the telegraph line starts on July 4, 1861.
After work commences on the line, one of the men is killed apparently by a mysterious band of cattle-rustling Indians. Unconvinced that Indians are to blame, Shaw rides out to investigate and follows the rustlers' trail to the camp of Jack Slade, a former friend and cohort, whose gang committed the killing disguised as Indians—the gang Shaw left following his last bank robbery. Slade reveals that they are working for the Confederacy to disrupt Western Union because they believe the telegraph service will help the Union. Shaw rides away and returns to the line. Not wanting to turn in his former friends, Shaw tells Creighton that a large band of Dakota Indians stole the cattle, and recommends that they simply replace the herd and not risk a fight with the Indians.
Sometime later, a confrontation takes place between men working on the forward line and a band of drunken Indians. When one of the Indians tries to steal some equipment, a nervous Blake shoots him, ignoring Shaw's order to remain calm. After word arrives that the main camp is under attack by other Indians, the Western Union men rush back to help with the defense. At the main camp, Slade's men, who are again disguised as Indians, steal the Western Union horses. The company discover the ruse when one of the wounded Indians turns out to be a white man. Forced to buy back their stolen horses from Slade, Creighton becomes suspicious of Shaw's involvement, especially when he admits to knowing the gang.
Soon the U.S. Army arrives and announces the Indians have now refused to allow the telegraph lines to go through their territory in response to Blake's shooting of the drunken Indian. Creighton, Shaw, and Blake ride out to convince Chief Spotted Horse to allow them to build the line through Indian territory, even though the man Blake wounded was Spotted Horse's son. Creighton is finally able to persuade the Indians to allow them passage, and work continues until the company approaches Salt Lake City.
Sometime later, Shaw receives word that Jack Slade wants to meet with him. On the way to see Slade, Shaw is captured and bound by Slade's men. Slade says his group is going to burn down the Western Union camp and they don't want Shaw to interfere. After Slade and his men ride off, Shaw escapes from his ropes but arrives back too late to prevent the fire. He helps rescue some of the Western Union men from the flames and burns his hands in the process.
After the fire, Creighton confronts Shaw for an explanation, but Shaw does not reveal what he knows and is fired by Creighton. As Shaw leaves the camp, he tells Blake that Slade is actually Shaw's brother and that he, Shaw, will find Slade's gang and stop them from interfering with the telegraph project. Shaw rides off and finds Slade and his men in a nearby town. At the barber shop, Shaw confronts his brother, whose gun is concealed under the barber's sheet. Slade shoots Shaw through the sheet. Shaw fights back in spite of his wound, killing some of the gang members, and then dies. Blake arrives and continues the fight with Slade who dies from his wounds. Soon after, the Western Union line is completed and the workers celebrate. When Sue laments the absence of Shaw, Creighton tells her that Shaw can hear them.
可以看，但却没有太多的新意。智叔一星，方中信一星，谭耀文一星，哈哈
有点老套，在各种题材各个角度都被电影拍过的情况下，如何能推陈出新呢？
影片二星，加一星鼓励。港片的辉煌，就如同廖启智的生命一样，一去不复返了。
所以最后赢得公理是因为有钱…看到一群老面孔真好…
剧本一般，有点牵强，对抗性不够。女一很美，扮演死者的女三也很不错。
港片真是夕阳西下了，这种片子真是烂的没底线了。。。
不是正义战胜了邪恶，而是资本战胜了资本。所谓的happy ending，让人心凉。
2019年亚洲电影节的“技术原因”，捱到现在才终见天日；感觉若非廖启智和“扫黑”大潮，也是困难。立项时对四位主演争锋斗戏的预期，被淹没为一个有些轻佻简陋的律政剧“单集案件”；其实完全可以说，这是《律政强人》“Kent”与“KC”的后续吧。
现在的港片大部分都是这样，就很多是工工整整，不功不过，能将就看但又不是很好的，批量生产的网大，这部就是其中所说，阵容还可以，演员在线就能很大程度弥补本身薄弱的剧情，廖启智的表演一如既往的点睛，不管是出场多长时间依然是亮点，RIP
演员这块，除了鲍起静、廖启智之外，曾江的气势也完全压制了方中信等人。
全片灌输了资本主义的缺陷：有钱能使鬼推磨。
我愿意把这当作律政强人续集来看 如果廖启智也演律师就更完美
剧情虽然老套，但是有板有眼，逻辑清晰合理，方中信演律师老资格了！还是那个味道！水准之上的作品。
支持一波！
二星半，挺平庸的，因为廖启智遗作，所以加半颗星。
噢对了，为了省500万掩盖证据，就开始当街见一个杀一个，什么年代了还有这么脑残的党魁！？
意料之中的故事情节 除了女主和廖以外 演技一般
陈家乐一如既往的太嫩，担不起大任。
感觉像没有高潮，就很平缓的叙事，最后感觉还是资本家的胜利，如果不是有钱的爸爸，真要制裁有钱权的人，估计真会像隔壁沉默的真相那样惨烈吧，害
法律题材居然拍的如此弱智，这个题材在国内还是吃不开……
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