Directed by Michael Curtiz, it was the third teaming Holden and Olson together as leads in four films released in 1950 or 1951 (with the others being Sunset Boulevard, Union Station, and Submarine Command).

The American 36th Infantry Division is fighting bitterly for every hill in the Allied advance on Rome during the Italian campaign of World War II.

Spurning reverie in town, battle-fatigued Sergeant Joe "Pete" Peterson wanders in the night in a cemetery filled with fresh crosses.

When Sergeant McFee becomes upset because he has not received a letter from his wife in weeks, Pete takes him to the post office to investigate and finds Ellie working there.

Pete does, radios back it has been cleared, then spots two deadly German 88 antitank guns commanding the road on which American Shermans are advancing.

When the Allies occupy Rome, she finally finds him there; he had been taken prisoner, but was freed when the Germans abandoned the city intact.