Eddie, a cynical American drifter, loses his singing job in a dingy Italian cafe and takes up with an older woman, Gina, who invites him to join her circus ventriloquist act. Trouble develops when Eddie becomes attracted to Tessa, the bareback rider who is the sister-in-law of Ricco, the circus owner. No longer interested in his crippled wife, Elenora, Ricco becomes jealous of Eddie's attentions to Tessa. Another problem arises when Bozo, the circus clown who is Gina's ex-husband, attacks Eddie and falls on a knife as they struggle. Believing Bozo to be dead, Eddie flees. He encounters Tessa, who has also left the circus, and the two spend the night in a deserted mountain cabin, unaware that the area has been evacuated for the dynamiting of a dangerous glacier. In the resulting avalanche, Eddie saves Tessa's life and then again flees, fearing the police. But he returns to the circus and discovers that Bozo is alive, that Ricco and Elenora are reconciled, and that Tessa truly loves him.