Based on the Ernest Hemingway novel and set against the backdrop of the Italian front during World War I, an American Army volunteer (Rock Hudson) meets a British nurse (Jennifer Jones) on the eve of the big offensive in the Alps and they fall passionately in love. Torn apart by war and the jealous meddling of Henry's "friend", Major Rinaldi (Vittorio De Sica), the star-crossed lovers escape to Switzerland to reunite and await the birth of their child and the tragic conclusion to their once-in-a-lifetime romance.