In 1878, an old gunslinger Ben Wyatt (Robert Taylor) is released from prison after five years. He meets Lee Sutton (Chad Everett), who is on the run for killing a man in a gunfight. Wyatt finds that his close friends the Domingos have been killed. He takes Sutton, who is weak from being wounded in the gunfight, to find Anisa Domingo (Ana Martin), the daughter of Wyatt's slain friends. Wyatt agrees to let Anisa help him find her parents’ killers.

The three ride toward Lordsburg. Sutton leaves them to go to his family's ranch. He and Anisa say goodbye but hope to see each other again. With Anisa's help, Wyatt finds the men responsible and they are Sutton's brothers. Wyatt kills one in a street gunfight in self-defense.

Lee finds that his older brother, Clay (Lyle Bettger), killed Anisa's parents. Lee leaves the ranch for Lordsburg to free Wyatt, who is in jail for the gunfight. Together, they defeat Clay and his thugs to save Anisa from being killed as the only witness to Clay's murders.

• Robert Taylor as Ben Wyatt
• Chad Everett as Lee Sutton
• Ana Martín as Anisa
• Mort Mills as Will Parker
• Lyle Bettger as Clay Sutton
• John Davis Chandler as Sundance
• Michael Pate as Frank Boone
• Barry Atwater as Lomax
• John Crawford as Butch Cassidy
• Willis Bouchey as Judge Ellis
• Rodolfo Hoyos, Jr. as Luis Domingo (as Rodolfo Hoyos)
• Boyd 'Red' Morgan as Wid Boone
• Henry Wills as Sam Boone
• Robert Shelton as Cowboy
• Loretta Miller as Dance Hall Girl
• Janell Alden as Dance Hall Girl

• List of American films of 1967

The Films of Robert Taylor, by Lawrence J. Quirk

• Return of the Gunfighter at IMDb  
• Return of the Gunfighter at AllMovie
• Return of the Gunfighter at the TCM Movie Database