正在监狱服刑的玛丽（金格尔·罗杰斯 Ginger Rogers 饰）获得了意料之外的八天假期，她决定利用这个假期前往派恩希去探望叔叔。在火车上，玛丽邂逅了名为扎克（约瑟夫·科顿 Joseph Cotten 饰）的军士，两人相谈甚欢。得知玛丽要到派恩希，扎克和她在同一个车站下了车。 玛丽的到来受到了叔叔的热烈欢迎，可是侄女芭芭拉（秀兰·邓波儿 Shirley Temple 饰）却因为知道玛丽是囚犯而对她心怀警觉。但随着时间的推移，芭芭拉在玛丽的身上看到了美好的品质，也得知了玛丽入狱的前因后果，两人冰释前嫌。这八天里，玛丽和扎克之间的感情火速升温，离别的日子眼看就要来临，两人心中都充满了痛苦。Mary Marshall, serving a six year term for accidental manslaughter, is given a Christmas furlough from prison to visit her closest relatives, her uncle and his family in a small Midwestern town. On the train she meets Zach Morgan, a troubled army sergeant on leave for the holidays from a military hospital. Although his physical wounds have healed, he is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and is subject to panic attacks. The pair are attracted to one another and in the warm atmosphere of the Christmas season friendship blossoms into romance, but Mary is reluctant to tell him of her past and that she must shortly return to prison to serve the remainder of her sentence.
