Disregard the bashing you have heard on Sterling Hayden's acting. It is the result of modern computer nerds who think every character has to be a video arcade one dimensional stereotypical psycho, and who have no idea on the world outside their computers. This is a well directed, well acted, exciting adventure of an isolated group of people terrorized by bad guys. In this case, the bad guys are three assassins out to kill the president of the United States as he visits a small town. Sinatra gets the ham role of the top killer. As in real life, the leader is often the least qualified, and most suicidal. He has Shakespearean tragic fallacies in his character that look ready to doom him and his men. But will the doom be too late to save the people he kidnapped? Believable characters and an overall good script make this film one that makes the modern gangster movie look pitiful. Not for the computer nerd or modern video game dork who can't stand three dimensional characters, psychos and bad guys who aren't invulnerable, or believable reactions. But definitely for most people.