Dr. Josiah Newman (Gregory Peck) runs the psychiatric unit of a U.S. Military Hospital during WWII. Short of help, Newman coerces newly arrived neurotic orderly Jackson Leibowitz (Tony Curtis) to work in his ward. Leibowitz's scheming & humor quickly turns life inside the ward upside down. Newman, while amused, tries to maintain a semblance of order. Newman's other recruit to the ward is nurse Lt. Francie Corum (Angie Dickinson). Corum is at first shocked by what she sees in the ward, but admires the compassionate & effective way in which Newman deals with each of his patients. Together Newman & Corum help a variety of patients with war related psychological traumas, while they themselves struggle with the dilema of healing these soldiers so they can be sent back into battle to face possible death.