After his parents are killed by a trio of outlaws, Nevada Smith (Steve McQueen) vows revenge against the murderers. Smith is helped by Jonas Cord (Brian Keith), who teaches his prot?g? to use a gun and other methods of deadly self defense. Jesse Coe (Martin Landau) is the first victim Smith finds as the two fight with knives. Smith learns that Bill Bowdre (Arthur Kennedy) is an inmate in a Louisiana prison and plans to get in to kill the murderer. Tom Fitch (Karl Malden) is the last of the three that Smith hopes to kill in this violent western adventure. The characters are taken from the novel The Carpetbaggers by Harold Robbins.