John Ireland & Mercedes McCambridge in "The Scarf" (1951)

John Howard Barrington, played by John Ireland, is convicted of murdering his fiancée with a scarf but suffers from complete amnesia about the crime. Sentenced to a criminal psychiatric institution, he escapes one night after narrowly avoiding execution and flees across a desolate landscape in search of the truth behind his fractured memory. In his frantic bid for freedom, he collapses at the doorstep of Ezra Thompson, an eccentric turkey farmer who offers shelter and honest labor. While working on the farm, Barrington occasionally ventures into town and gives a lift to Connie Carter, a brassy waitress and singer who wears a scarf identical to the one used in the murder, triggering a powerful flash of recognition. As Barrington pursues clues, Dr. David Dunbar, the psychiatrist who certified him insane, looms increasingly suspicious. The scarf becomes the key evidence that clears Barrington’s fog of amnesia, revealing that he was framed and that the true culprit is Dr. Dunbar, a manipulative confidence man masquerading as a professional psychiatrist. With the truth unveiled, Barrington’s name is cleared, memory restored, and he gains a second chance at life, perhaps on the turkey farm with newfound love and the truth exonerated.