Adapted from a novel by Larry Evans, Once to Every Man tells the tales of Danny Bolton, a pugnacious, hard-drinking country boy.

Mountain boy Steve O'Mara, living in the Adirondack Mountains, who loves to fight, is taken in by a well-to-do family after the death of his foster father. Steve is attracted by a young girl, Barbara, who is visiting his family, but she is repelled by his violent behavior.