Jubal Troop (Glenn Ford) is an honest, well-intentioned cowhand who has come into town looking for work. When he is injured in a riding accident, rancher Shep Horgan (Ernest Borgnine) offers him a job tending horses, but before long trouble is brewing and Morgan's coquettish wife, Mae (Valerie French) falls for Jubal. The dubious cowhand Pinky (Rod Steiger) won't stand for Jubal stealing Mae's attention away from him. He slyly convinces Shep that the well-behaved Jubal is sleeping with Mae and sends the whole Horgan ranch into an uproar.

In spite of its heavy storyline, JUBAL is actually quite a funny film. The pairing of Glenn and Borgnine makes for several amusing scenes. The plot gradually morphs from psychodrama to black comedy to comedy (similar to films like THE SWIMMER and WILD THINGS) evoking mirth and laughter, fear and loathing. Director Delmer Daves welds all of the unsuspecting chaos together, making JUBAL a non-traditional but very memorable Western.