A strait-laced officer takes up his new posting as CO of a Highland regiment. However, problems spring up when he clashes with his easy-going predecessor almost every step of the way. The friction between the two military men leads to no end of tension for the soldiers. Drama, starring Alec Guinness, John Mills, Susannah York and Dennis Price.

Following World War II in peacetime Scotland, brigade headquarters replaces commanding officer Major Jock Sinclair, a boisterous battalion leader, with the strict, temperamental Lieutenant Colonel Basil Barrow. Resentful toward his replacement, Sinclair undermines Barrow's authority and damages his successor's reputation among the soldiers. Barrow faces an uphill battle in regaining the discipline and respect of his battalion.