Cameron Mitchell, James Whitmore, Bettye Ackerman, Royal Dano, Lois Maxwell. Good samaritan James Whitmore is horribly disfigured while rescuing a boy from a fire. Once adored by the townspeople, he is now treated as a loathsome outcast. Based on the Stephen Crane story, "The Monster".

In a small American town, Monk Johnson works as a groom for Dr. Ned Trescott and his family. When not working, Monk enjoys fishing with the town's children and Ned's young son Jimmie, whom he affectionately calls "Pollywog." One afternoon after visiting the barber shop, Monk dresses in his finest suit and calls upon Bella Kovac, whom he has visited many times. Pleased by Monk's charming manner, Mrs. Kovac approves of his visits and is happy when Monk proposes to Bella. Later, Monk makes his way back to the Trescotts, stopping at the post office to greet a neighbor and then to play briefly with a friendly collie dog. Clanging fire bells shatter the calm evening and the townspeople follow the fire wagon to the Trescott house, which is engulfed in flames. Neighbors prevent Ned and his wife Grace from entering the burning house, despite Ned's hysterical cries that Jimmie remains inside. Unknown to the crowd, Monk enters the house to find Jimmie and, wrapping the frightened child in a blanket, searches in vain for a way out of the blazing building. Monk descends the rear stairs to Ned's laboratory, but stumbles on the burning steps and falls, knocking himself out against a table, after which chemicals on the flaming table explode and fall directly onto Monk's face. Meanwhile, Ned breaks away from the crowd and dashes into the lab where he pulls Jimmie to safety. When someone calls out that Monk was seen entering the house, Ned and two firemen rush back into the lab and pull out the horribly burned man. That evening, Ned and Grace stay at the home of close friend Judge Hagenthorpe while Dr. John Moser treats Jimmie. Relieved to learn the boy has suffered relatively mild burns on his legs, Ned is distressed when John reports that Monk's severe burns have literally scalded off his face. Ned sends Grace and Jimmie to stay with his parents while their house is rebuilt and he personally tends to Monk. Over several weeks, Ned operates on Monk and has him treated by specialists, but in addition to remaining grotesquely scarred, Monk's mind has been affected. When the judge suggests that in his dreadful condition Monk would surely want to die, Ned is shocked and reminds his friend that Monk saved Jimmie's life. Later, just before the new house is completed, Ned arranges to take Monk, wearing a black veil over his face, to stay with poor farmer Al Williams, his wife Mary and their two sons. After Grace and Jimmie return to the new house, Al goes to the judge to demand more money from Ned for looking after Monk, revealing that his children, wife and the neighbors are frightened by Monk's appearance and believe he is the devil. A few days later, however, Al is alarmed when Monk goes missing from his locked room. Unnoticed, Monk wanders into town where he peers into the window of a house, terrifying young Mary Winter and several children at a birthday party inside. Monk then interrupts a dance party and when he approaches a girl, she collapses in shock upon seeing his face. Although confused, Monk nevertheless retraces his activities on the night of the fire and makes his way to the Kovacs', where a shocked Bella breaks down when he addresses her. After playing briefly with the friendly collie, Monk continues to the post office where he greets a woman, but his appearance causes her to panic and run into the street where she is nearly knocked down by a horse and wagon. When Monk tries to help the hysterical woman, several townspeople chase him and, frightened, he runs away, seeking refuge on top of a railroad car. Later, Mary's father Jake goes to Ned to inform him that he and several men believe Monk is dangerous and must be found. Alarmed by Jake's shotgun, Ned accompanies the men, but asks the judge to alert Sheriff Nolan. Nolan catches up with the group in the woods and demands they surrender their guns. Jake and the others initially resist, but when a figure is spotted running through the woods, Ned and the others chase him, believing it to be Monk. The man turns out to be Al, wearing Monk's suit. Nolan's deputy then arrives with a telegram reporting Monk has been killed at nearby Three Track Junction after being run over by a train. Although deeply saddened, Ned later confesses to Grace a sense of relief. After a funeral service in which Monk is declared a hero, Ned is disheartened when several of his patients, who days earlier had demanded Monk's confinement, praise him. One afternoon while Ned is consulting with John, Jimmie arrives home stricken. Under questioning, the boy describes seeing a man with no face down by the river. Ned and John rush to the park and find Monk and Ned takes him home. Later, Nolan discovers that the body identified as Monk's was a stranger who had been robbed and murdered. Over the next few weeks, tensions rise in town over Monk's presence and rumors spread that Jimmie has been in shock since seeing him. When Ned calls on the Winters to treat the still fragile Mary, Jake's wife Ethel hysterically blames him for Monk terrorizing the town. One afternoon a weary Ned returns home and is amazed when Monk, wearing his veil, steps forward to tend to the horse. Although Monk remains confused, Ned is uplifted by the apparent partial return of the injured man's memory. A few days later the judge and several men visit Ned to reveal they are aware of his gradual loss of business and have raised money to send Monk to an institution. Distressed, Ned nevertheless tells them he will consider their offer. Meanwhile outside in his veil, Monk sits carefully cleaning a bridle when Jimmie and several school children arrive and taunt him. The children dare one another to get closer to Monk, but the ringing of the fire bells interrupts their cruel game. Monk comes to his feet in distress, frightening the children. As Ned and Grace watch from the window, Monk cringes in fear, then holds out his hand and calls for "Pollywog." Moved to hear his old nickname and remembering that Monk saved him, Jimmie comes to his friend and, taking his hand, leads him into the Trescott home.