This underappreciated film was one of many great movies from the team of John Ford and Henry Fonda. It is one of the most beautiful and moving films I've ever seen. Fonda plays a Catholic priest in a small Mexican town at a time when Christians were being persecuted by the Government.<br /><br />SPOILERS: He is forced to go on the run and later finds sanctuary, but is tracked down by a man he had come across before. The man tells him about a thief named El Gringo (Ward Bond) who is dying and wants to make a confession. It turns out to be a trick, as the man is a police informant. The police lieutenant who had bragged earlier, "the last priest was shot 6 months ago", has a child with a woman that helped Fonda, who baptized the child. He offers to save Fonda if he will renounce his faith, which he will not do. On the way to the firing squad, the man who betrayed Fonda asks for his blessing. The lieutenat is shaken when he hears the gunshot. Soon, a new priest arrives to comfort the crowd of mourners gathered at the church.