Director Albert Band is also a screenwriter, and this is his second drama based on a story by Stephen Crane (his first screenplay was 1951's Red Badge of Courage). Band's interpretation of Crane's story The Monster, is a slow, pedestrian rendition of the emotional upheaval of a lowly handyman, Monk Johnson (James Whitmore). Johnson works for a local doctor and is a friend of everyone in town when disaster strikes. The doctor's house catches on fire and Johnson's face is completely burnt as he rushes in to save the physician's young son. After he recuperates, his grotesque appearance alienates his former friends to the point where they are aggressive, threatening, and ready for violence.