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One night, drifter Eric Stanton is forced to
disembark a San Francisco-bound bus because he has not paid the full fare.
Eric is let off in the small town of Walton, and when he goes to Pop's, a
local diner, he finds Pop distraught over the disappearance of his beautiful
waitress Stella. Retired police detective Mark Judd assures Pop that
Stella will return, and soon she does appear, much to Pop's relief.
Eric then leaves and, after seeing a poster for
a show by "psychic" Professor Madley, convinces Madley's assistant, Joe
Ellis, that he is friends with the professor. Ellis confides that
ticket sales have been slow due to the influence of Clara Mills, the former
mayor's daughter, who has been telling her friends not to attend.
Seeing an opportunity to make money, Eric goes to the Mills house the next
morning, and asks the cynical Clara to give the professor a chance.
Clara dismisses Eric, saying that the professor is a charlatan, but her
lovely younger sister June is intrigued by Eric, and tells Clara that Madley
is merely trying to make a living. June convinces her sister to buy
tickets to the show, and soon many of the townspeople follow suit.
When Madley arrives in Walton, he reveals that
he does not know Eric, but is nonetheless so pleased with his work that he
pays him and offers him a job touring with the show. Eric accepts,
then continues his pursuit of the sensuous Stella. At the show that
night, Clara is horrified when Madley, pretending to speak in the voice of
her late father, reveals how she was swindled by a smooth-talking man, even
though she still has $25,000 of her inheritance left.
After the show, Eric goes out with Stella, and
although he pressures her to make love with him, she insists that she wants
marriage and a home. Annoyed that Stella will not come to San
Francisco with him when he joins the professor, Eric prepares to leave
alone, but is so obsessed with Stella that he stays in Walton and promises
her that he will find enough money to marry her.
Eric then begins to court June, flattering her
and goading her into dating him. June is captivated by Eric's charm,
but he is infuriated when he sees Stella with jukebox vendor Dave Atkins.
When Eric confronts Stella later, she shows him a new watch that she has
received from a beau, although she does not specify which one.
The next night, Eric goes out with June again
and talks about her potential career as a musician and asks to take her to
San Francisco for a concert. June falls asleep without answering, and
the frustrated Eric begs Stella to run away with him, but she insists that
he first obtain the money he promised. Eric goes to sleep but is
awakened by a phone call from June, who asks him to accompany her and Clara
to San Francisco in the morning. Clara, who is putting June's share of
their inheritance in a safe deposit box, is suspicious of the glib Eric but,
later that afternoon, when June and Eric reveal that they have been married,
Clara reluctantly agrees to accept Eric for June's sake.
 When they return home, however, Eric sneaks out
to see Stella, but is followed by Clara. Stella is angered by Eric's
marriage, despite his assurances that he will have it annulled as soon as he
gets June's money. Stella storms off, and the next morning, June
confronts Eric with Clara's revelation about his meeting with Stella.
Eric tries to defend himself, but June further reveals that Judd is there to
question him, as Stella was murdered late the previous night. Clara
tells Judd, who has been placed in charge of the investigation, that Eric
was at the Mills home all night, after which Eric watches as Judd brutally
beats Atkins while questioning him. Atkins admits that Stella had
agreed to marry him but denies giving her the watch that was dropped by the
killer as he fled the scene. Atkins' alibi holds, and Judd then turns
his suspicions on Eric, who, afraid that he will be framed, flees to San
Francisco. J une, who loves her husband despite the evidence against him,
accompanies him, and while they are talking in their hotel room, Eric
finally begins to appreciate June's gentle, loving nature.
Judd has June arrested when she tries to
withdraw her money from the safe deposit box, but June maintains her belief
in Eric's innocence. Eric grows suspicious of Judd and makes his own
inquiries, after which he returns to Walton, where he confronts Judd in
Pop's diner. Eric presses Judd into confessing that he gave Stella the
watch and later killed her after she agreed to marry Atkins, because she was
tired of waiting for Judd to obtain a divorce. Wild with grief, Pop
attempts to shoot Judd, but Eric stops him and the policeman is arrested.
Eric tells Pop that he, too, will get over Stella, then joins June, who is
waiting outside. |
