The story is based on a 1910 novel by Corra Harris about a minister and his wife in southern Appalachia (specifically Mossy Creek, Georgia) in the early 20th century.

The film stars Susan Hayward and William Lundigan with Rory Calhoun, Barbara Bates, Gene Lockhart, Alexander Knox and Lynn Bari.

William is assigned a new parish and moves with his wife to a town in Georgia's Blue Ridge Mountains, where he tends to the spiritual and emotional needs of his small flock.

The poverty and isolation of the region, and the everyday problems of local people, put a strain on the couple's faith and marriage.

[3] (Hayward would actually move to another part of rural Georgia a few years later, settling down to farm and ranch with her second husband when she was not making films.