Small-time crook Chris Hale (Joseph Cotten) makes his way to Ashton, Ohio, where he finagles his way into a room at a boarding house. Hoping to change his ways, he gets a job with the father of the beautiful but paralyzed Elaine Corelli (Valli), with whom he quickly falls in love. Despite his desire to leave it behind, he cannot escape his shady past, which arrives in the form of a paranoid former cohort. With old rivals after him, Hale must mend fences if he wants a normal life with Elaine.