On the plain of the Serengeti, Harry Street (Gregory Peck) is sick from an injury to his leg. As his wife Helen (Susan Hayward) tends to him, waiting for a plane to take him to a hospital, he goes in and out of consciousness. Reviewing his life, he remembers the woman he loved but lost: Cynthia Green (Ava Gardner). While he and Cynthia had lived in Paris, he had also brought her to Africa for hunting. There, she tells him she is going to have a baby and wants to return to Paris. But in Paris she lost the baby and eventually Harry loses her. These regrets and others cause Harry to feel like his life is a failure. Helen supports him with her love and encourages him to find hope for living so he can survive.