Three former marines have a hard time readjusting to civilian life. Perry can't deal with the loss of the use of his legs. William is in trouble with bad debts. And Cliff can't decide what he wants to do with his life, although he gets encouragement from war widow Pat Ruscomb.
The swarthy Guy Madison "Cliff" steals this for me as one of three former US Marines returning from WWII with little hope - on just about every level. His colleague "Tabeshaw" (Robert Mitchum) has financial problems and "Perry" (Bill Williams) no longer has the use of his legs. What follows is a triptych of stories that follow each man's attempts to rehabilitate themselves into society - and a fairly indifferent society, at that. This is quite a plodding, but sympathetic adaptation of the Niven Busch book that poses some fairly far-reaching questions about loneliness and despair, hope and aspiration. A soupçon of compassion towards the young "Cliff" comes in the guise of the widowed "Pat" (Dorothy McGuire) and though none of the male leads here could ever be described as versatile, or emotive, actors - they do well enough here with the rather wordy dialogue. Though not a great film, it is still a good observation on what little effort is made to look after those folk who were prepared to give all when needed, but who when no longer needed were pretty much abandoned to their own wiles - flaws and all.