After landing with the Allied troops at Anzio, Italy in 1944, war correspondent, Dick Ennis, (Robert Mitchum) and buddy Corporal Rabinoff (Peter Falk) tell Anzio Commander General Lesley (Arthur Kennedy) that the road to Rome is wide open. But instead of heading to Rome, Lesley attempts to build a coastal stronghold, only to discover that the Germans have outflanked them by enclosing the Anzio beachhead. Four months and over 30,000 casualties later, the Allied forces smash through the German lines and victoriously march to Rome.