|
In 1946, returning serviceman Dave Hirsh awakens with a
hangover on a bus in his hometown of Parkman, Indiana, in the company of
Chicago trollop, Ginny Moorhead. To Ginny’s disappointment, Dave takes
leave of her and checks in to a hotel alone. A writer before the war,
Dave has been away from Parkman for sixteen years, but is recognized by the
locals who report Dave’s arrival to his older brother Frank, a successful
jewelry store owner. Suspicious of Dave’s unannounced return, Frank
visits him. Still resentful over misunderstandings from childhood,
Dave refuses to move into Frank’s home, but reluctantly agrees to dine with
Frank and his wife Agnes that night.
Dave then goes to Smitty’s Bar and Grill where gambler Bama
Dillert introduces himself and invites Dave to join a game of poker that
evening. Late that afternoon, Dave goes to the jewelry store and meets
Frank’s attractive secretary, Edith Barclay. At the Hirshes', Agnes
stifles her dislike of Dave who, in turn, is delighted to meet his
seventeen-year-old niece Dawn. When Agnes announces that they will be
dining at the country club with retired Professor Robert Haven French and
his daughter Gwen, who teaches creative writing at the local college and
admires Dave’s work, Dave becomes apprehensive. Once the Frenches
arrive, however, Dave is put at ease by the professor and is immediately
attracted to the prim but striking Gwen. At the club, Dave dances with
Gwen, but she is disturbed by his bold physical overtures.
Later, when Gwen drives Dave back to his hotel, she ignores
his forthright flirtation and attempts to talk to him about his writing.
Dismayed by Gwen’s cool response, Dave vaguely promises to show her an
incomplete story he has written, then goes to Smitty’s. At the bar,
Dave finds Ginny in the company of her jealous ex-boyfriend, small time
Chicago thug Raymond Lanchak. Agreeing to see Ginny later, Dave joins
Bama’s card game, which is interrupted later by a raid. Just outside
of Smitty’s, Ginny assures Dave that she is sincerely interested in him, but
the couple is waylaid moments later by an angry Raymond, who attacks Dave.
Dave and Raymond are taken into police custody. Once Dave is released,
he accepts Bama’s invitation to move in with him.
The following morning, Frank chastises Dave for the
altercation and for his association with Ginny, but admits that he paid
Dave’s legal fine. Later, Dave borrows Bama’s car to deliver his
unfinished story to the Frenchs’ home. Gwen acknowledges reading about
Dave’s arrest, then asks why he has suddenly interested in writing again.
Dave admits that her attention prompted him, but when he declares that he
may be falling in love with Gwen and attempts to kiss her, she rejects him.
Gwen then reads Dave’s story and praises it sincerely, insisting that with
only a few minor changes she could submit it to a magazine. Surprised,
Dave agrees to the changes, then again makes romantic overtures to Gwen, who
at last gives in to a passionate kiss before insisting that he depart.
That evening, when Agnes reproaches Frank for Dave’s
behavior, Frank goes for the store, where he is surprised to find Edith
working late. Impulsively Frank asks Edith to go on a drive with him
and they end up on a lover’s lane, where Edith admits her long attraction to
Frank. Unknown to Frank, Dawn and her boyfriend Wally Dennis are
parked nearby and Dawn is shocked to see her father kissing Edith.
Several days later, Dave visits Gwen to demand to know why
she has not contacted him and Gwen confesses her discomfort with Dave’s
intensity. When Dave accuses Gwen of being afraid, she maintains that
they should get to know one another. Undaunted, Dave proposes, only to
be stung when Gwen declares that she refuses to becomes another of Dave’s
barroom tarts. Returning to Bama’s, Dave agrees to go with his friend
on a gambling trip to Terre Haute and Indianapolis and invites Ginny to join
them.
That night in a Terre Haute bar, Dave bitterly assures Ginny
that he is not involved with Gwen, then is surprised to see a drunken Dawn
sitting with a much older man. Dawn confesses to having run away from
home out of disillusionment, but Dave gently admonishes her and insists she
return home.
The next day Dave and Bama continue to Indianapolis.
Dave attempts to phone Gwen several times, but she refuses to accept his
call until her father presses her to speak to Dave. Gwen tells Dave
that his story will be published in a highly respected literary magazine and
admits to missing him. Pleased, Dave returns to the card game, where a
man accuses Dave and Bama of colluding to cheat him. When the man then
knocks off Bama’s lucky hat, a fight breaks out and Bama is knifed by the
man, who then flees.
Later at the hospital, a doctor tells the recovering Bama
that he suffers from diabetes and counsels him to stop drinking and change
his lifestyle. Meanwhile back in Parkman, Ginny goes to the college to
see Gwen. Lingering outside of Gwen’s classroom, Ginny listens
uncomprehendingly while Gwen tells her students that supremely gifted
artists should not be judged by their personal behavior. After class,
Ginny approaches Gwen and asks if she intends to marry Dave. Taken
aback, Gwen is unsure how to respond. When Ginny reveals that she was
with Dave in Terre Haute and that although she is in love with him, she
would give him up to make him happy, Gwen icily declares that there is
nothing between them.
Upon his return to Parkman, Dave sees Dawn, who happily
reveals that she has gotten a job with a New York publishing house.
Later, Frank berates Dave at the store for the fight in Terre Haute, but
Dave advises Frank to pay more attention to his daughter. Overcome
with guilt, Edith then declares that she is leaving town. Dave visits
the Frenches but, when he realizes that Gwen is purposely avoiding him, he
goes to her bedroom to find her. Dave demands to know why Gwen has changed
since their phone conversation and she angrily tells him that she does not
like his life or his associates. Disheartened, Dave returns to Bama’s,
where he insults Ginny, who is enthusiastically clutching the magazine with
his article.
Later, Dave apologizes for his rudeness and reads Ginny his
story, but is frustrated when she admits she does not understand it, but
still likes it. When Ginny adds that she does not understand Dave yet
loves him, Dave proposes. Stunned and ecstatic, Ginny accepts.
Dismayed when Dave reveals his plans, Bama leaves the house.
That evening as the city of Parkman celebrates its
Centennial, Dave and Ginny are married by a justice of the peace. When
Bama learns that Raymond has returned to town and is threatening to kill
Dave, he hurries out into the festive crowds to search for his friend.
Chasing the unsuspecting Dave and Ginny through the crowds, Raymond shoots
and wounds Dave but, when he attempts to fire again, Ginny throws herself in
front of Dave and is killed.
The following day, a devastated Dave, Bama and the Frenches
attend Ginny’s funeral. |
_01.jpg)
