Then only long enough to marry that kid's mother and get run out of the place by her folks...Why do you suppose he's livin' in this neck of the woods if he didn't have something to hide."]Davies begs for a promise of fairness: "Major Tetley, you mustn't let this be a lynching...Promise me you'll bring 'em in for a fair trial...Tetley, you bring those men in alive." But here are no promises ("I promise I'll abide by the majority will"), and the twenty-eight men are illegally deputized (to duly take the law into their own hands) by the insolent Mapes, the deputy sheriff, against the Judge's orders.The film's scrolling prologue described the historical background: the Hundred Years' War (1337 to 1453), between France and England) had just ended:"With the end of the 15th century, the Middle Ages came to a close.The film's overall impact was heightened by its open examination of the gallant Clyde's sexuality-impotence and the link to his gun-toting violence.She allows herself to be limply carried upstairs to their bedroom - their kissing a prelude o lovemaking.