Jane Wyman stars as the deaf-mute farm girl Belinda McDonald, whose aging father Black (Charles Bickford) still resents his daughter over the death of her mother during childbirth. After area physician Robert Richardson (Lew Ayres) takes an interest in Belinda's case, he begins teaching the girl sign language; unfortunately, she also attracts the troubled McCormick (Stephen McNally), who rapes Belinda and leaves her pregnant.
