This is the second weakest of the Jimmy Stewart westerns, perhaps edging out The Rare Breed. Anthony Mann declined to direct it based on the script quality. In fact, his relationship with Stewart was forever soured when the two argued about the script. Mann made a cutting remark that Stewart only wanted to be in this so he could play an accordion. He actually was trying to move away from the psychological dramas of Mann centered on tortured heroes. In Night Passage he gets to be an average joe lugging his accordion around and playing for anyone who will listen. Audie Murphy appears as the Utica Kid, who turns out to be Stewart's younger brother.

The story is this: Stewart is hired to carry a satchel of money to pay railroad workers. A gang led by the great Dan Duryea and Audie Murphy have been robbing the trains carrying the payroll. Stewart rescued a young boy, Joey (Brandon de Wilde), at the beginning of the film and they travel together by train with the payroll. It's hidden in a shoebox Joey carries. The ploy works when the train is robbed, but the boy turns out to be friends with Audie Murphy. He joins with him while still concealing the fact that he's carrying cash in his shoebox. The train robbers don't find the money and so they kidnap the railroad tycoon's wife (Elaine Stewart).

Jimmy Stewart is pistol-whipped outside the train. When he wakes up, he sees the train gone and tracks the gang to a mining camp. He asks to join with them, claiming he's Murphy's brother. Dan Duryea is terrific as the gang leader and seems to have a rivalry with Murphy. He accepts Stewart's offer when there's tension shown between the two brothers. More transpires about the payroll, which is still hidden in the shoebox, but a gunfight occurs. Stewart and the tycoon's wife escape. They join with two other women characters in the story and ride out to find Joey.

They encounter an ore mill and a setpiece begins here with Stewart trailed and surrounded by Duryea's gang members. Murphy changes sides to help, but is killed by Duryea. There's a touching scene with Stewart holding him in his arms that is quite affecting. Overall, not a bad western but not exactly good either. It's run-of-the-mill compared to the Stewart-Mann collaborations. It has enough going for it: harmless and pleasant viewing when you're in the mood for another Stewart entry that isn't helmed by Anthony Mann.