In an Eastern Kentucky mountain town, illiterate Asa Whipple, the village blacksmith, marries beautiful Nance Haws over the objections of her father. A former aristocrat who was financially ruined, Jethro Haws wanted Nance to marry lawyer Rufus Couch. After Sandy Orr, an escaped convict employed by the kind-hearted Asa, kills Luke Andrews for implying that Nance's expected child is Couch's, Asa takes the blame. He is convicted by Couch, now... see more