Richard Damian (Arthur Hill) evolves from an entitled wealthy businessman, “He never even had to light a match for himself,” to a relatable everyman, who must overcome a broken leg and the elements, after being left for dead in the Desert by his wife Kay (Diana Muldaur), and her younger lover (James Stacy). In what is ostensibly a crime of opportunity when Hill falls off his horse and tumbles down a steep embankment, Muldaur and Stacy seize upon the situation and set in motion a plan that is fool proof, provided that Hill succumbs to his inevitable fate of dying alone in the desert. Broken and near death, Hill digs deep within himself to find a survival instinct that will lead him out of his desert prison, and back to the villains who stranded him, but his Ordeal changes him in a way that surprises at the end.
