Lillian Gish stars in this silent melodrama as a sheltered Southern girl who fights to adapt to the rough-and-tumble life of the wild West. Swedish director Victor Seastrom's final American film, the movie transcends the Western genre with its symbolism-laden story of physical and spiritual repression. After traveling to Texas from Virginia to live with her cousin and his family in their squalid shack, Letty (Gish) is treated as an unwelcome interloper. To quell the jealousy of her cousin's wife, Letty marries cowboy Lige (Lars Hanson), but when another suitor tries to rape her, she impulsively shoots him and tries to bury his body in the constantly shifting sands as the wind blows mercilessly.