When Ben Kane (Robert Mitchum) sets out to avenge his murdered son, he partners up with sharp shooting YOUNG BILLY YOUNG (Robert walker Jr.) and together they become deputies in the small town of Lordsburg. As they settle into their new professions, Kane becomes infatuated with the town bar maid Lily Beloit (Angie Dickinson) and Young crosses paths with his old partner, Jesse Boone. Angry at Young over old business affairs, Boone has turned jaded, and plans to kill Kane. But when the fiery Kane finds out that Boone's father killed his son, arresting him becomes all the more imperative as he is the one link to catching the child murderer. Using their judicial sway, Kane and Young set a guileful trap for the Boone family and things heat up in the little old town of Lordsburg.

Based on Will Henry's novel, YOUNG BILLY YOUNG exceeds the psychological content of most westerns. It questions the relationships between fathers and sons (Kane's and Young's relationship is similar to that of Stephen Daedelus and Henry Bloom in James Joyce's epic novel ULYSSEUS) and examines the orphans search for surrogate family members in the old lonesome West. Including the hit theme song sung by Robert Mitchum, YOUNG BILLY YOUNG is an intelligent and compelling Western.