Marsha Mitchell, a traveling dress model, stops in a southern town to see her sister who has married a Ku Klux Klansman. Marsha witnesses the KKK commit a murder and helps District Attorney Burt Rainey bring the criminals to justice.
En route to a job, New York-based model Marsha Mitchell decides to stop for under 24 hours in the southern American town of Rock Point to visit her sister Lucy Rice, whom she has not seen in two years, and meet Lucy's husband Hank Rice for the first time. Upon arriving in Rock Point, Marsha witnesses a Ku Klux Klan slaying: she later learns that the victim was Walter Adams, an out-of-town reporter who was to write an exposé on the Klan. Marsha even saw two of the men's faces after they removed their hoods, but they didn't see her. Upon later arriving at Lucy's house, Marsha is shocked to see that Hank was one of the Klansmen who committed the murder; Lucy was unaware that he was a Klansman. Marsha decides to confront Hank and Lucy about what she saw. Meanwhile, county prosecutor Burt Rainey knows that the Klan committed the murder, everyone in town is aware that the Klan committed the murder, but Rainey knows that no one will come forward to implicate the Klan for what they see as the good of the town. He is also aware that Marsha would have been in the area when the murder was committed and wants to talk to her; he hopes that her outsider status would let her speak freely if she had indeed seen something. Marsha must decide what to say to Rainey, specifically taking into account how best to protect her and Lucy's welfare, which includes the fact that Lucy is pregnant.—Huggo
Marsha Mitchell (ROGERS), a dress model from New York City, is traveling by bus during an extended job for her employer during Christmastime of 1949. En route, she decides to spend the night in the rural Southern town of Rock Point to visit her newlywed sister, Lucy Rice (Doris Day), who has relocated there. Within minutes of entering the town, she notices unwelcoming and evasive behavior from the townspeople. As she walks down the almost-pitch-black main street, she hears loud noises coming from the police station. She hides and witnesses a drunken KKK mob murder a man whom they had just broken out of jail. The man untangles himself and only manages to run briefly before getting cut down by gunfire. The mob, slightly apprehensive, approaches the fallen man, arguing among themselves. Marsha gets a good look at two of the men, who have removed their hoods.
After the mob quickly leaves the scene, Marsha runs to the nearby bowling alley, where her sister works. Lucy quickly notices the shocked and horrified look on her sister's face. Marsha tells her about the murder she witnessed, which causes Lucy to tell her about the undercover work of Walter Adams (VAN SICKEL), who, she believes, must have been the slain man. She explains that Adams arrived in town recently and got a job with the phone company, but he was secretly a journalist, writing critical material about the town's klavern. The police decided to put an end to his reporting and arrested him on a false charge of driving while intoxicated.
Lucy takes Marsha to her home and encourages her to tell her husband, Hank (Steve Cochran), about what she witnessed. However, Marsha is shocked when he arrives, as she recognizes him as one of the Klan members. Within minutes, while Marsha and Lucy are alone, Marsha tells her sister. Hank, eavesdropping, denies this. However, he is unable to hold his own against Marsha's insistence, and confesses. He sobs and says that he was drunk and was forced to go with the other men to the scene, and did not intend for the man to die. According to Hank, the men simply wanted to stop Adams from smearing their town. Hank desperately tries to persuade Marsha to remain silent for the sake of his life and his marriage to her sister, who is pregnant. Lucy forgives her husband and decides that he was simply a part of something beyond his control. Marsha, still viewing him as a vile person, reluctantly agrees to leave town on the first bus in the morning and forget about the incident.
District Attorney Burt Rainey (REAGAN) arrives at the murder scene and asks the police about how they could let a mob break through their doors and kidnap one of their prisoners, reminding them of their duty to protect the inmates. They claim that they were simply outnumbered; Rainey, however, is skeptical of that excuse and suggests that they were accomplices. He then arrives at the bowling alley and questions Charlie Barr (SANDERS) , the Imperial Wizard of the town's KKK, but he gets no answer. He then learns about Marsha and requires her to meet him in his office the next morning. Many townsfolk try to dissuade Rainey from investigating the case, for fear of his destroying the town's reputation and economy.
Rainey questions Marsha at his office and gets a half-truth --- that she saw Klansmen but did not get a look at their faces because of their hoods. Rainey is satisfied that the mere fact of her having seen Klansmen is enough to warrant a full investigation. He hands her a subpoena for the inquest, which will take place that afternoon. Under pressure from both her sister and the Klansmen, she decides to lie in court, allowing the coroner's jury to decide that Adams died at the hands of one or more assailants unknown.
The KKK, along with the sympathetic locals, celebrates at the bowling alley. Disgusted with herself, Marsha packs up her belongings and plans to leave. However, Hank, drunk, arrives home and attempts to rape her, but Lucy appears and interrupts. Lucy finally denounces him, after which Marsha states she has rethought her testimony, and that she will turn him in to Rainey and the police. Furious, he kidnaps her and takes her to a KKK rally, where a functionary starts to whip Marsha until Lucy, Rainey, and the police arrive. Barr orders his men to hide Marsha and keep her quiet. While Rainey stands before Barr, the latter threatens him and tells him to leave. Rainey ignores him and finds a weeping Marsha in the custody of the Klansmen. He then confronts Barr. Desperate, Barr names Hank as the murderer. Hank, stealing a sidearm from one of the Klansmen, shouts in fury, condemning everyone, and shoots his wife. A cop then shoots Hank with an automatic weapon, killing him. Scared and disillusioned, the rest of the Klansmen, many of whom drop their costumes, flee the scene, leaving Barr to fend for himself. The police arrest Barr as Lucy dies in Marsha's arms, while a burning cross collapses before them.
