During the summer lay-off of the TV series Wyatt Earp, Hugh O'Brian found time to star in the superior sagebrusher The Brass Legend. O'Brien plays a sheriff who takes full credit for the arrest of dangerous outlaw Raymond Burr. In fact, young Donald McDonald, the brother of O'Brien's fiancee Nancy Gates, was largely responsible for Burr's capture, but the sheriff refuses to reveal McDonald's part in the arrest for fear that the boy will be killed by Burr's cohorts. Unfortunately, the local newspaper editor believes that O'Brien simply wants to cheat the boy out of his share of the reward money. The editor blithely prints up the full story in his paper, leading to a near-disastrous denoument.