John Ballantyne (Gregory Peck)’s Timeline and Summary
- As a child, Ballantyne accidentally kills his brother.
- He attends Columbia Medical School and becomes a doctor.
- He's drafted into the army during World War II and serves as a pilot.
- He's shot down over Rome, injuring his arm.
- His guilty feelings are inflamed by killing. He's invalided out of the service.
- Ballantyne meets Dr. Edwardes, who attempts to cure him. While they're together, Ballantyne witnesses an argument between Edwardes and Dr. Murchison, whom Edwardes is to replace as administrator of Green Manors.
- Edwardes and Ballantyne go on a skiing trip; Edwardes is shot by Dr. Murchison and falls over a cliff while Ballantyne watches.
- The shock and guilt cause Ballantyne to develop amnesia. He thinks he's Dr. Edwardes and goes to take Edwardes' position replacing Murchison at Green Manors.
- The amnesiac Ballantyne and Dr. Constance Petersen fall in love.
- Constance figures out that Ballantyne isn't Edwardes. He thinks he's killed the real Edwardes, and leaves for New York.
- Constance follows him to protect him, since the police now know he's not the real Edwardes.
- She catches up with him and works to cure him. She takes him to her teacher, Brulov, in upstate New York.
- Brulov and Constance analyze Ballantyne and figure out where he and Edwardes were skiing when the accident happened.
- Constance and Edwardes go to the slope and Ballantyne remembers seeing Edwardes fall; he recovers most of his memory.
- But when the police find Edwardes body, they discover he was shot. They put Ballantyne in prison.
- Constance goes back to Green Manors, where she discovers that Dr. Murchison was the real killer.
- Murchison kills himself; Ballantyne is freed.
- Ballantyne and Constance marry. Aww.