After the war, famed war correspondent Jim Duncan receives a hero's welcome from his hometown of Carmelita, California. Unknown to all but his mother Sarah, Jim is actually a dishonest heel, having gone so far as to trick the naive Lorraine into paying for his train trip. Upon his arrival in Carmelita, Jim immediately leaves his adoring family to go to a bar, where he begins gambling and makes a play for spoiled young socialite Marian Tyler, despite the fact that she is already involved with Mike O'Connor, an honest real-estate agent. Marian is also the daughter of insurance agent Arthur Tyler, his older brother Martin's boss. Three months later, Jim is still living with his family in Carmelita, having been unable to finish his novel or get another reporting job. The only money he has been able to accumulate comes from a crap game he runs for the local yokels. After winning big one night, Jim offers to help Martin buy a used-car dealership, but loses the money when Marian goads him into a bad bet. Sarah then asks Jim to leave Carmelita, as she feels he is the same bad influence as his deceased father was. Later, Jim goes to Los Angeles to see fellow foreign correspondent Dave Vinson, only to find himself trapped in a hotel room by Marian, who tells him that she is pregnant by him. Unknown to Marian, Jim is already married to someone in Paris, though Vinson tells the lovesick, drunken Jim that, along with his career, his marriage is over. Returning to Carmelita, Marian tells Jim that she wants to end their relationship, as she has finally realized that while she is in love with him, he is not in love with her. Mike, in turn, offers to marry Marian, although he knows she is pregnant by Jim. Jim makes plans to leave Carmelita, and Ann, his lovesick sister-in-law, agrees to go with him until he reveals his plot to steal the raffle money that Martin has raised for war veterans. His plans are thwarted when he learns that his adoring nephew Tony has mimicked his earlier actions and entered a narrow railroad tunnel. Jim is killed by the onrushing train while rescuing Tony from certain death. Martin, who was aboard the train that killed his brother, later praises Jim as a "swell guy," still unaware of his brother's misdeeds.