AllMovie

The Vanquished represented another winner from Paramount's Pine-Thomas unit. John Payne plays Rock Grayson, a Civil War POW who returns to his Southern home to find carpetbagger Roger Hale (Lyle Bettger) in charge of things. An old enemy of Grayson's, Hale has commandeered the Grayson family-mansion as his headquarters. He has also set his sights upon Grayson's girlfriend Jane Colfax (Colleen Gray) as his own. Urged by the townsfolk to spearhead a revolt against the despotic Hale, Grayson surprises everyone by agreeing to become Hale's chief tax collector. What no one knows is that Grayson is secretly planning to gather enough evidence to topple Hale through legal methods. Even so, the film is capped by a cathartic outburst of violent action. The Vanquished is based on a novel by cinematographer/screenwriter/director Karl Brown.