Homespun bayou lad Jim Bowie (Alan Ladd) is learning the courtly ways of 1825 Southern society. He's wearing only the finest suits and cravats. Proving himself in business and at the gaming table. And should the occasion call, keeping handy the specially made blade ' tempered with meteorite steel ' that would make his name forever a part of American lore. Yet despite Bowie's prowess in a world of dandies and ruffians, he may be overmatched in the ways of the heart: he's fallen for lovely Jubalon (Virginia Mayo), the magnolia belle fancied by men of means from Natchez to New Orleans. Will her beauty be the only weapon more powerful than Bowie's Iron Mistress blade?