Stigmatized from infancy by the fate of his criminal father, young Danny is bruised and bullied until one night, in a fit of rage, he kills his most persistent tormenter. As the police close in around him, Danny makes a desperate bid for the love of the dead man's fiancé, a schoolteacher who sees the wounded soul behind his aggression. A small-town fable about violence and redemption, it is the final triumph of Frank Borzage, one of Hollywood's most neglected masters.