Edward is a gentle young man created by a shut-in inventor on top of a hill. The inventor gave Edward lessons in etiquette and was teaching him all the human graces. Unfortunately, the inventor died unexpectedly, leaving Edward with scissors for hands. When Peg Boggs, the local "Avon" representative, comes calling at the house, she takes pity on poor Edward and brings him home to live with her family. Edward is puzzled by the quirks and politics of life in suburbia, and doesn't really fit in. At first Edward's uniqueness makes him almost a celebrity in the small suburb, but then people really begin to misunderstand Edward and his gifts. He falls in love with Peg's beautiful teenage daughter Kim, who comes to understand Edward just in time to save him from the townspeople's fear of someone as uniquely different as Edward.