Elizabeth Taylor

Set in the fictional English village of St. Mary Mead, home of Miss Jane Marple (Angela Lansbury), in 1953. The movie opens with a black-and-white scene from a movie being played at the local community house titled 'Meeting at Midnight' where a detective in the movie assembles a group of people together at a quait country mansion to root out them for the murder of the wealthy owner. The film breaks which depresses the local audience, until Miss Marple reveals, according to her natural skill of observation, who the murderer in the movie is. Meanwhile, a big Hollywood production company arrives to film a costume movie about Mary, Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I with two famous movie stars, Marina Rudd (Elizabeth Taylor) and Lola Brewster (Kim Novak). Marina and Lola are old rivals who hate each other. Marina, who is making a much heralded comeback after a prolonged "illness" and retirement, when she, in reality, has had a nervous breakdown, and her husband, Jason Rudd (Rock Hudson), who is directing the movie they are making, arrive with their entourage. When she learns that Lola will be in the movie as well, she becomes enraged and vents her anger. Lola and her husband, Martin N. "Marty" Fenn (Tony Curtis), who is producing the movie they are making, then arrive at the gathering. Excitement runs high in St. Mary Mead, as the locals have been invited to a reception held by the movie company in a manor house, Gossington Hall, to meet the celebrities. Lola and Marina come face to face at the reception and exchange some potent and comical insults, nasty one-liners, as they smile and pose for the cameras. The two square off in a series of hilarious and cleverly written and performed cat-fights throughout the movie. After her initial exchange with Lola at the reception, she is cornered by a gushing, devoted fan, Heather Babcock (Maureen Bennett), who bores her with a long and detailed story about having actually met Marina in person during World War II. After recounting the meeting they had all those years ago, when she arose from her sickbed to go and meet the glamorous star, Babcock drinks a cocktail that was made for Marina and quickly dies from poisoning. The incident is unfortunate for Marina's mental state, and she is beside herself. Everyone is certain Heather was the intended murder victim. Once filming begins on the movie, Marina discovers that apart from threatening notes made up of newspaper clippings, her cup of coffee on the set has also been spiked with poison, sending her into fits of terror. A police detective from Scotland Yard arrives to investigate the case. Inspector Dermot Craddock (Bernard Fox) is baffled as he tries to uncover who is behind the attempt on the life of the actress and the subsequent murder of the innocent woman. The suspected are Ella Zielinsky (Geraldine Chaplin), Jason's production assistant who is secretly having an affair with him and would like Marina out of the way, and the hot-headed actress Lola Brewster. Inspector Craddock even suspects Marty Fenn may have have something to do with the attempt on Marina's life since he is Lola's blindly loyal husband. Inspector Craddock then meets with Marina who tells him about reciving the death threats against her in the form of two notes delivered recently and claims not to know who is behind them. When Inspector Craddock questions Jason about the notes, he clearly acts somewhat suprised as if hearing about it for the first time, and he calmly tells the inspector that he wanted to keep the threats on his wife a secret as not to bring on bad publicity for the Hollywood studio. Inspector Craddock asks his aunt, the renowned amateur detective Miss Jane Marple, who injured her foot at the reception and is confined to her home, for assistance. The main suspect, Ella Zielinsky, is later killed by a lethal nose spray after going to a pay phone in the village, where she called the murderer and threatened to expose them. At the climax, Miss Marple, now back on her feet, visits Gossington Hall, where Marina and Jason are staying, and views where Heather Babcock's death occurred. Working from information received from her cleaning woman, Cherry Baker (Wendy Morgan), who was working as a waitress the day of the murder, the determined elderly sleuth begins to piece together the events of the fatal reception and solves the mystery: Marina herself is the murderer. In the film's denouement, Miss Marple explains to Jason Rudd and Inspector Craddock about the two murders that have occurred. Heather Babcock's story was Marina's initial motive. Ten years earlier, Miss Babcock suffered from German measles; a rather harmless disease to most adults, but problematic for a pregnant woman. Heather Babcock innocently infected Marina when she met her during World War II during a stage performance. Marina was about a month pregnant at the time; the disease caused her child to be born with mental retardation. Upon hearing the unknowing Heather cheerfully tell this story, Marina was overcome with rage and poisoned Heather without thinking. She then spread the idea that she was the intended victim in order to throw off suspicion from herself, delivering death threats and poisoning her own coffee at the studio. Ella, who made phone calls to various suspects from the town's pay phone, accidentally guessed correctly, apparently prompting Marina to murder her as well. Miss Marple also deducts that Jason Rudd knew about Marina's murderous secret after Inspector Craddock told him the other day about the death threat notes that Marina received. Jason saw right through the charade as he realized that Marina fabricated everything because she never told him about the death threat notes, and thus decided to protect her. Jason, Marina's devoted husband, confesses to Miss Marple that he actually administered a dosage of poison just last night to save her from prosecution. However, when they enter Marina's room, they see that Marina is now dead. However, Marina didn't touch the hot chocolate Jason made for her and rather poisoned herself. As Marina is now dead, she will not be brought to justice. On that note, both Miss Marple and Inspector Craddock depart from Gossington Hall as the end credits role.

Set in the late 1590s, the film opens when Lucentio (Michael York), a young nobleman, arrives in Padua, Italy to attend the local university with his servant and best friend Tranio (Alfred Lynch). After attending a graduate ceremony with outbound students graduating, Lucentio catches sight of the young and beautiful teenage Bianca (Natasha Pyne) the daughter of a wealthy merchant named Baptista (Michael Hordern). Bianca is eyed and courted by a number of good-looking and well-to-do young men who follow her to her home. However, Baptista announces that Bianca cannot be courted or marry until her elder sister, and his older daughter, Katharine (Elizabeth Taylor) is wed. As Katharine is out-spoken and far from demure, none of the men in the town want to marry her, so Bianca remains unwed even though many suitors hover to woo her. Lucentio sees the competition and devises a plan in which he disguises himself as a Latin tutor, named Cambio, in order to woo Bianca behind Baptista's back and at the same time has Tranio pretend to be him. Meanwhile, two noblemen named Hortensio (Victor Spinetti) and Gremio (Alan Webb), plot to try to woo Katharine hoping to either marry her or find someone to marry her off too. Their debate changes when Petruchio (Richard Burton), a rough-and-ready land owner, arrives in Pauda, accompanied by his personal servant Grumio (Cyril Cusack), having left Verona (the same city which 'Romeo and Juliet' takes place). Petruchio explains to Hortensio, an old friend of his, that since his father's death he has set out to enjoy life and wed. Hearing this, Hortensio recruits Petruchio as a suitor for Katherina. He also has Petruchio present him (Hortensio) to Baptista disguised as a music tutor named Litio (complete with a fake beard and eyeglasses). Thus, Lucentio and Hortensio attempt to woo Bianca while pretending to be the tutors Cambio and Litio respectively. The next day, Petruchio and his entourage, whom are Grumio, Hortensio, Gremio, Lucentio and Tranio, arrive at the Baptista household where he meets Katherine for the first time and falls in love with the fiery femme. After a furious, aggressive, and combative courtship he proposes to her. Katherina agrees to marry Petruchio after seeing that he is the only man willing to counter her quick remarks. However at the wedding the following week, Petruchio makes an embarrassing scene when he strikes the priest and drinks the communion wine. After the wedding, Petruchio takes Katherina to his home outside Verona against her will and through pouring rain where she gets soaking wet. Petruchio and Katherina move into his rustic mansion where their combative relationship continues challenging Katharine's sense of honor. Back in Padua, Lucentio confesses to Bianca that he is not a student, but the son of one of the most respected men in town, and the couple decides to marry with Baptista's blessing. In Verona, Petruchio begins the "taming" of his new wife. She is refused food and clothing because nothing - according to Petruchio - is good enough for her; he claims that perfectly cooked meat is overcooked, a beautiful dress doesn't fit right, and a stylish hat is not fashionable. He also disagrees with everything that she says, forcing her to agree with everything that he says, no matter how absurd; on their way back to Padua to attend Bianca's wedding, she agrees with Petruchio that the sun is the moon, and proclaims "if you please to call it a rush-candle. Henceforth, I vow it shall be so for me." Meanwhile, Hortensio has married a rich widow. In the final scene, there are three newly married couples; Bianca and Lucentio at their wedding party; the nameless widow and Hortensio, and Katherina and Petruchio. Because of the general opinion that Petruchio is married to a shrew, a good-natured quarrel breaks out amongst the three men about whose wife is the most obedient. Petruchio proposes a wager whereby each will send a servant to call for their wives, and whichever comes most obediently will have won the wager for her husband. Katherina is the only one of the three who comes, winning the wager for Petruchio. She then hauls the other two wives, including Bianca, into the room, giving a speech on why wives should always obey their husbands. The film ends with Baptista, Hortensio and Lucentio marveling at how successfully Petruchio has "tamed the shrew".

A film that rips the facade of civility off the dysfunctional marriage between an alcoholic college professor and his shrew of a wife during a dinner they host for a young couple.

New Orleans, 1937. Catherine Holly (Elizabeth Taylor) is a young woman institutionalized for a severe emotional disturbance that came about when her cousin, Sebastian Venable, died under questionable circumstances while they were on holiday in Spain a few months earlier. The late Sebastian's wealthy mother, Violet Venable (Katharine Hepburn), makes every effort to deny and suppress a potentially sordid truth about her son and his demise. Toward this end, she attempts to bribe the state hospital's administrator, Dr. Hockstader (Albert Dekker), by offering to finance a new wing for the underfunded facility (in Sebastian's name) if he will coerce his brilliant young surgeon, Dr. John Cukrowicz, (Montgomery Clift) into lobotomizing her niece, thereby removing any chance that the events surrounding her son's death might be revealed by Catherine's "obscene babbling". Mrs. Venable meets with Dr. Cukrowicz in the primordial garden ("like the dawn of creation") at her estate to discuss her niece's case, and their conversation eventually turns to Sebastian. Mrs. Venable describes him as a poet whose art was his sole occupation... even though he only wrote a single poem each year during the summer months and never published his work... and recounts her own previous vacations with him and of the poems that he kept in a poetry book that she reads from time to time. Mrs. Venable then reads out loud to Dr. Cukrowicz one poem from the book which tells of one particular voyage to the Encantadas a few years ago where her son forced her to witness the horrific sight of birds feeding on newborn turtles emerging from the sand, a ghastly scene in which Sebastian believed he saw the "face of God". Cukrowicz agrees to visit Catherine and begin his evaluation. Catherine has been confined to a private women's mental institution since her return from Europe several months earlier. At first remaining out of sight, Cukrowicz watches as she is caught smoking by Sister Felicity (Joan Young), one of the nuns who staff the facility. When the nun confronts Catherine and holds out her hand, demanding that she turn the cigarette over, Catherine responds by extinguishing the lit cigarette into her palm, burning her. The nun then tells the doctor that this can be seen as proof of her mental instability. Cukrowicz dismisses Sister Felicity and goes on to interview Catherine in her room. She claims that her memory does not extend any further back than an incident that occurred just before she left for Europe with Sebastian, when she "lost her honor" while being driven home from a Mardi Gras ball. Beyond that, she struggles to recall the events that led to Sebastian's death and her subsequent breakdown, but expresses her desire to do so. Beginning to doubt that she has lost her mind, Cukrowicz decides to move Catherine into the state hospital for continued observation. Catherine's mother (Mercedes McCambridge) and brother George (Gary Raymond) pay her a visit and reveal that Sebastian has left them a considerable sum of money in his will. Unfortunately, Mrs. Venable will not give them the inheritance unless they sign papers to commit Catherine to the institution and allow a lobotomy to be performed. Alarmed by this prospect, Catherine tries to escape. She accidentally wanders onto a catwalk suspended over the men's recreational area. With the door at the other end of the catwalk locked, she is forced to fight her way back past the men who are trying to climb up onto the catwalk and grope her, and returns to her room in defeat. Later, Mrs. Venable drops by the hospital to check on the status of Cukrowicz's evaluation. The doctor persuades her to meet Catherine face to face. In the ensuing confrontation, Catherine tries to get her aunt to reveal the true nature of her relationship with Sebastian and the reason why she was left behind and Catherine chosen to take her place as his traveling companion, vaguely hinting that Sebastian used them as "bait" and that they "procured for him". Mrs. Venable responds to these allegations by fainting. Catherine uses this opportunity to slip away again to find another way to escape from the hospital. Catherine finds another catwalk that runs above a rec room filled with women who initially stare at her in silence as she walks overhead. She climbs the railing and leans out precipitously, considering jumping to her death as the women start cackling below, but before she can release her hold, an orderly (David Cameron) comes up behind her, drags her back to her room and sedates her. In a last-ditch effort to help Catherine, Cukrowicz brings her to the Venable estate where he administers a truth serum that will allow her to overcome any resistance to remembering the details of what happened that summer. Before an audience consisting of her aunt, mother and brother, Miss Foxhill (Mavis Villiers), Dr. Hockstader, and Nurse Benson (Patricia Marmont), all of whom have gathered on the patio in the jungle-like garden, Cukrowicz begins questioning Catherine: In a long silent flashback sequence, Catherine recalls how she and Sebastian spent their days on the beach in the Spanish town of Cabeza de Lobo at a posh resort hotel on the beach. On one occasion, he drags her reluctantly into the water, which causes the fabric of her white bathing suit to become transparent. A group of local young men, who had been watching her from the neighboring public beach, start to approach but are intercepted by Sebastian. Catherine gradually realizes that he is using her as bait to attract these local teenage boys in order to proposition them for sex. Since the boys are desperate for money, Sebastian is successful in his efforts; however, he gradually becomes "fed up with the dark ones" and, being "famished for blondes", makes plans to depart for the northern countries of Scandinavia. On one scorching white-hot day, Sebastian and Catherine are having lunch at a local cafe near the beach when they are beset by a team of ragged street boys playing cacophonous music on instruments of scrap metal and begging for money (some of them being the same teen boys he propositioned to earlier). When Sebastian rejects them, they take up pursuit through the streets of the town. Sebastian attempts to flee, but the boys swarm around him at every turn. He is finally cornered among the ruins of a temple located on a hilltop. In the meantime, Catherine has been frantically trying to catch up with Sebastian, but she reaches him only to see him overwhelmed at last by the group of boys. To her horror and revulsion, she realizes that the starving street teens are literally tearing him apart and eating his flesh. She screams for help, to no avail. The film returns to Catherine, who has collapsed upon the ground, sobbing, and then runs outside the house. Mrs. Venable closes Sebastian's book of poems... the pages of which are blank (there were never any poems in the book, for Mrs. Venable clearly made them up as her own deluded way to deny her son's homosexuality to herself). Mrs. Venable then slowly rises from her seat and takes Cukrowicz's arm. Calling him Sebastian, she tells him not to be out in the sun for too long and that they should go inside the boat and inform the captain that they want to leave. Now clearly insane that the truth has come out, Mrs. Venable is led away and Cukrowicz returns to check on Catherine, who has recovered, having learned the truth. They both walk into the house together.

In the early 1920s, Jordan "Bick" Benedict (Rock Hudson), the head of the rich Benedict ranching family in Texas, goes to Maryland to buy a stud horse, War Winds. There he meets and courts the 18-year-old socialite Leslie Lynnton (Elizabeth Taylor), who becomes his wife after a whirlwind romance. They return to Texas to start their life together on the family ranch, Reata, which is owned and run by Luz (Mercedes McCambridge), Bick's older and grumpy sister. Leslie doesn't get along with Luz for Luz scorns Leslie's wealthy background while Leslie thinks that Luz is rude. Jett Rink (James Dean) is a local ranch hand who works for Luz and hopes to find his fortune by leaving Texas; he also has a secret love for Leslie despite the fact that she is married to his boss. One day during a cattle roundup, Luz expresses her hostility for Leslie by cruelly digging in her spurs while riding Leslie's beloved horse, War Winds. Luz dies after War Winds bucks her off, and as part of her will, Jett is given a small plot of land within the 595,000-acre Benedict ranch. Bick tries to buy back the land, but Jett refuses. Jett keeps the fenced off waterhole as his home and names the property Little Reata. A few years later, Leslie eventually gives birth to twins, Jordan "Jordy" Benedict III and Judy Benedict, and a younger daughter named Luz II (Carroll Baker). One day, Jett discovers oil in a footprint left by Leslie and develops an oil drilling well on his property. Bick is annoyed with Jett's prospecting and tries to deny him access to his land. Finally, Jett hits his first gusher, he drives into the Benedict yard (covered in crude oil) proclaiming in front of the entire family that he will be richer than the Benedicts. After Jett makes a rude sexual remark to Leslie, Bick and Jett have a fist fight. Shortly after, in the 1930s, Jett starts an oil drilling company, named 'JetTexas' that makes him enormously wealthy. But Bick resists the lure of drilling for oil on his much larger part of the cattle ranch, preferring to remain a rancher to maintain the legacy of his family's original business. During the 1940s, tensions in the Benedict household revolve around how the parents want to bring up their grown-up children. Bick stubbornly insists that Jordy must succeed him and run the ranch, just like his father and grandfather before him, but Jordy wants to be a doctor. Leslie wants Judy to attend finishing school in Switzerland, but Judy loves the ranch and wants to stay in Texas for her education (and to her high school boyfriend). After World War II breaks out, Jett visits the Benedicts and tries to convince Bick to allow oil production on his land to help the war effort. Bick finally realizes there is no one to take over the ranch after him and concedes. During this visit, Luz II, now a teen-aged girl, starts flirting with Jett. Once oil production starts, the wealthy Benedict family becomes even wealthier, depicted by the addition of a swimming pool next to the house. Jordy gets married to a young Mexican American woman and they have a son. Judy gets married to her long-term high school boyfriend and they too have a son. The Benedict/Rink rivalry continues however, and it comes to a head when the Benedicts find out that Luz II and the much older Jett Rink have been dating. At a huge gala Jett organizes in his own honor, an irate Jordy tries to fight him, after realizing he and his Mexican American wife, Juana (Elsa Cárdenas), were invited just so Jett's employees could turn Juana away. Jett has his goons hold Jordy and punches him out in front of the crowd. Fed up, Bick then takes Jett to a kitchen room, about to fight him, but realizes that Jett is now just a drunken shell of a man, who has only his money. He tells him, "You're not even worth hitting. You're all through," and leaves, but not before symbolically and quite noisily caving in Rink's wine cellar shelves domino style. The party ends when Jett, completely drunk, slumps down in front of everyone before his big speech. Luz II sees him afterwards, once everyone has left the ballroom, and discovers that he is a lonely, pathetic wreck who can only repeat how much he still loves Leslie. The Benedicts, all except Jordy, drive down an empty road to a diner. An altercation develops between the racist diner owner Sarge (Mickey Simpson), a Mexican family that just walked in who have no dollars but pesos, and Bick who intervenes on behalf of the Mexican family. A fist fight ensues when Bick stands up for the immigrant family against the racist Sarge, leaving Bick the loser who collapses over a table of pies. Sarge throws them out of the diner saying that it is his free right to refuse service to people he does not like, including paying customers. In the final scene back at the ranch, Bick watches his two grandchildren playing in a crib with Leslie and reflects on his life and family. Leslie tells Bick that, after watching him lose the fight in the diner, she finally respects him and considers the Benedict family a success.

At their villa in the south of France, beautiful, spoiled young American heiress Louise Durant informs her wealthy father Nicholas that she is going to the music conservatory in Zurich to study piano and be near her beau, Paul Bronte, a violinist in his final year of study. The headstrong Louise adds that she plans to marry Paul, although he does not know this yet. In Zurich, Louise rents an apartment from Frau Sigerist, and meets fellow tenant James Guest, an American studying piano on the G.I. Bill. The following morning, Louise auditions for Prof. Schuman and, acknowledging her unexceptional talent, tells him she wants to study at the conservatory to be near the man she loves. When the kindly professor cautions her that great musicians do not always make good husbands, Louise confesses that she does not share Paul's passion for music. Schuman then tells Paul that he has chosen him to perform the violin solo in Tchaikovsky's Concerto in D Major with the Zurich Philharmonic. Paul leaves Louise alone in Schuman's waiting room for hours while he practices the piece, and she finally gets angry and walks out. Paul finds Louise in her room packing, and although she is disheartened by the thought of always coming second to Paul's music, he persuades her to stay. Louise strikes up a friendship with James, and allows him to use her piano to practice. One day, Louise gets a telegram from her father asking her to join him in St. Moritz, and brings Paul with her. Nicholas concedes that the young man has a certain "arrogant charm," but warns Louise that Paul will never need her as much as she desires. As the date of his concert debut grows nearer, Paul gets into an argument with the conductor at a rehearsal, and when Schuman reproaches him, he walks out in anger. When Louise tries to console him, Paul bitterly blames himself for being unprepared. Schuman gives Paul another chance, and Paul tells Louise they must not see each other until after the concert. Louise reluctantly consents, and the lovers speak only on the phone during Paul's intensive rehearsal period. On the night of the concert, Paul performs with great passion, and is so much in demand after the show that Louise is again left waiting alone. Paul's career is immediately launched, but Louise feels excluded and takes no pleasure in his success. When Paul tells her he must continue to focus on his work, they quarrel and Louise walks out. From her apartment that night, Louise sees Paul kiss a pretty conservatory student and drive away with her. Later that night, Frau Sigerist hears a noise coming from Louise's room and goes to James for help. James breaks down the door, and they find Louise on the floor, unconscious from taking an overdose of pills. Nicholas is summoned, and is impressed by James's devotion to Louise during her recovery. When she is well again, Louise prepares to join her father in Paris. James asks her to stay, and although the now-hardened Louise lightly dismisses his protestations of love, his desperation moves her. Time passes, and Paul tours the world as a concert violinist. One day, after encountering Nicholas on the street in Paris, Paul calls Louise at the Ritz, and she happily agrees to meet him. While waiting for her in the bar, Paul sees James at a booth, drunk and miserable. Paul is surprised to learn that James married Louise several weeks earlier, and leaves the bar in disgust. Louise seeks Paul out at the concert hall and offers to divorce James, but while he admits he still loves her, he rejects her offer. A conversation with Nicholas convinces Louise that she needs to redeem herself in Paul's eyes by helping James, and she tells her husband they must go back to Zurich. James returns to the conservatory, and Louise patiently supports him through his long hours of practice. In time, James's first concert appearance is announced, and Louise sends her father a flyer with a note saying she wishes Paul knew she did it all for him. Nicholas passes the flyer to Paul after a concert, and Paul is pleased by the change in Louise. Soon afterward, Louise comes home and finds a letter slipped under her door. On the evening of James's concert debut, Louise tells him she is going away with Paul after the concert, and implores James to see that he can succeed without her. Despite his obvious suffering, James plays brilliantly, unaware that Louise is watching him from the back of the auditorium. Paul comes for Louise and finds her watching her husband with great emotion. After the concert, James is standing on the empty stage when Louise appears and rushes into his arms.

In Shillingworth-on-Thames, England, book shop clerk Ruth has high hopes for her upcoming marriage to John Wiley, the owner of a Ceylon tea plantation, despite having known him for only two weeks. Upon arriving at Elephant Walk, John's plantation, Ruth is thrilled to discover that John's "bungalow" is an exotic mansion filled with servants, including John's devoted head servant, Appuhamy. Troubling her, however, is the fact that John's father Tom deliberately built the mansion across the path long taken by elephants on their way to the river and constructed a wall to keep them at bay. John's violent hatred of one particular bull elephant surprises Ruth, and she is also startled to learn that Tom is buried in a lavish marble grave behind the house, while John's mother is buried in England, because, according to Appuhamy, she hated Ceylon. Soon after his return, John's friends, fellow English planters and his American overseer, Dick Carver, drop by the house to meet Ruth. The men welcome Ruth, the only white woman in the area, then proceed to get drunk while toasting the greatness of John's father. Dick, who is leaving for Paris the next day, assures Ruth that Tom was more vain than heroic and counsels her not to take his legacy too seriously. Later, Ruth is awakened in the middle of the night by the sound of John and his friends playing polo on bicycles across the mansion's spacious floors. When Ruth tells John she was frightened by the noise, he coldly dismisses her fears as childish. Ruth runs crying back to her bedroom, and suddenly shamed, John follows and apologizes. The next day, Ruth notices Appuhamy praying at the foot of Tom's grave and tours the enormous kitchen with him. Appuhamy shows Ruth the items that were special favorites of "the old master," which are still being purchased, and balks when she offers to plan the menu so as to reduce the amount of waste generated by the plantation. Appuhamy also refuses to give Ruth the key to Tom's old study, piquing Ruth's curiosity. That night, Dick stops by to say farewell and, before going, encourages Ruth to contact him if she needs help. Later, John fractures his leg while drunkenly playing bicycle polo and is confined to his bed. During his convalescence, Ruth tries to sneak into Tom's study but hides when Appuhamy appears. After overhearing Appuhamy declare to a portrait of Tom that Ruth "does not belong" at Elephant Walk, Ruth learns from John's doctor that John's belligerent attitudes are impeding his recovery. Ruth writes to Dick for help, and he quickly returns and resumes his work as overseer. John's mood does not improve, however, as the expected monsoons have not started and the elephants have become agitated over the lack of water. When John yells at her for changing his lunch menu without permission, Ruth rushes to Dick, and while out riding with him, confesses that John is still ruled by his dead father. Dick kisses Ruth, who, despite her attraction, pulls away, protesting that she still loves John. Back at the plantation, John apologizes to Ruth and tries to appease her by announcing a special upcoming celebration. The celebration turns out to be an elaborate birthday party for Tom, and Ruth finally explodes with frustration, ordering John's drunken friends out of the house. The next morning, John condemns Ruth for driving his friends away and, when she insists that he hates Tom as much as she does, slaps her. Stunned, Ruth runs to Dick's quarters and begs him to take her to Paris. At the same time, however, one of John's servants collapses with cholera and the plantation is placed under quarantine. Trapped at Elephant Walk, Ruth and Dick toil long hours to help John curb the epidemic and soothe the terrified workers. When John, who is aware of Ruth's plans to leave him, insists on burying the dead himself, Ruth is impressed by his selfless dedication. Later, after the quarantine is lifted, Ruth tells Dick that she cannot leave John before the rains come, despite Dick's protests that John has not changed. As a final precaution, the workers' huts are set ablaze, and the elephants, agitated by the fire, start to stampede. With no workers available to beat them back, the elephants crash through the plantation wall and storm the house. Appuhamy, who has finally recognized Ruth's true worth, rushes to alert her and is killed by an angry elephant. While crashing through the house, the elephants cause a fire to erupt, and John barely arrives in time to rescue Ruth. Just then, the rain starts, and as Elephant Walk burns to the ground, John and Ruth embrace and pledge to start a new life together.

Paris, France. After the success of his first book, famous American writer Charles Wills (Van Johnson) returns to Paris, and visits a local cafe named Café Dhingo where he chats with the bartender about his life. Charles flashes back to his past.... August 1944. Shortly after the liberation of Paris from the Nazis, Charles, a sergeant in the US Army and reporter for the Stars and Stripes, was on the streets of Paris, covering the liberation celebration. He was suddenly grabbed by the most beautiful brunette woman he ever saw, she kissed him on the lips and disappeared into the crowd. Charles followed the crowd to Café Dhingo and met another pretty American woman named Marion Ellswirth (Donna Reed). The mutual attraction was instant, and he was invited to join the party her father was throwing in celebration of the liberation of Paris and the impending end of the war. Charles, Marion, and her persistent French suitor Claude Matine (George Dolenz) arrived at the Ellswirth household, only to find that the woman who kissed Charles was Marion's younger sister Helen (Elizabeth Taylor). During drinks, Charles learned that Marion and Helen's father, James Ellswirth (Walter Pidgeon), fought in the trenches of France during World War I. He survived the war and settled in Paris and was part of the drifter generation (aka: The Lost Generation, 1883-1900). Unlike most drifters, he never grew out of it; even went as far as raising his two daughters to desire such lifestyle. Helen took after her father and used her beauty to sustain a life of luxury even though James was flat broke. Marion went the other way, and looked for serious-minded and conventional young men such as Claude the aspiring prosecutor and Charles the future novelist. Over the next few months, Charles and Helen fell in love and started dating. After Helen recovered from a near-death case of pneumonia from being out in the rain during that winter, they got married and settled in Paris in the spring of 1945 after news that World War II has ended for good. James had hoped that Helen would marry rich, but having taken a liking to Charles, he accepted Charles into the family. Helen eventually got pregnant and gave birth to a daughter in 1946, whom they name Vickie. Marion, having lost Charles to Helen, agreed to marry Claude around the same time. Charles struggles to make ends meet with his meager journalist salary while he worked on his novels as well as look after Vickie, while Helen and Grandpa James partied on. Then one day luck struck: James had bought a few large pieces of land in Texas, convinced that he would become an oil baron. The oil never came and the deeds became a family joke. Always ready with practical jokes, he gave those deeds to Charles as Helen's dowry. Five years later in 1951, the joke turned into gold as oil began to shoot up from these lands non-stop, bringing them money beyond Charles and Helen's dreams. With all of their debits paid off, Charles quit his job to focus entirely on his writing career, and Helen and James began to host parties instead of going to them. Over the next year, the relief of financial strain and the influx of wealth suddenly brought out the irresponsible side of Charles, as he could no longer deal with the disappointment of his manuscripts getting rejected by publishers. And unexpectedly, this brought out the responsible side of Helen. Now it was Helen who wished to stay home to raise their daughter Vickie, while Charles partied his wealth away. They also each took on other interests: Helen started to flirt with handsome English tennis player named Paul Lane (Roger Moore). Charles asked professional divorcee Lorraine Quarl (Eva Gabor) to join him as he competed in a local Paris-to-Monte Carlo race. After the race, Charles returned to Paris to patch things up with Helen, only to find her sitting in Café Dhingo with Paul. A fight broke out between Paul and Charles, an angry Charles went home first and bolted the door and then passed out after drinking too much whiskey. Helen ended up having to walk all way to Marion's place in the falling snow and rain. She caught pneumonia again and this time... she didn't make it. Charles hears about her hospitalization the next day and races to the hospital to be at her side when she dies. After Helen's funeral, Marion petitioned for and got full custody of Vickie. Charles went back to his hometown of to Milwaukee to deal with the loss of both his wife and daughter. Two years later in the present day 1954, having straightened out his life and quit drinking for good, Charles returns to Paris (where the movie begins) and finished telling his story to the Café Dhingo bartender. Charles then goes to Marion's house, hoping that his reformation would have softened Marion, and give eight-year-old Vickie (Sandy Descher) back to him. Still feeling resentful towards Charles for having fallen for Helen instead of her, Marion refuses. Seeing that Charles and Vickie belong together, Claude finally stepped in and told Marion off. In the final scene, Marion and Claude bring Vickie to Café Dhingo to look for Charles. And in front of the painting of Helen, the family is finally reunited again. Charles and Vickie then walk off together to go back to America.

In late 12th century England, the Saxons and Normans retain lingering hatred of one another. Unpopular Norman Prince John has ruled England since his brother, King Richard, left for the Holy Land to lead the Third Crusade, and many assume that Richard is now dead. During Saxon Ivanhoe's long journey back to England, however, he finds Richard in an Austrian prison, languishing because John will not pay his ransom. Once back in England, Ivanhoe disguises himself as a minstrel and goes to the castle of his father Cedric, with whom he became estranged when he left for the Holy Land. While Cedric offers hospitality in his banquet hall to both Norman and Saxon travelers, Ivanhoe is recognized only by his faithful servant, Wamba. Wamba takes him to see Rowena, Cedric's ward, whom Ivanhoe has loved since childhood. Ivanhoe returns to the banquet hall just as another traveler, a Jew named Isaac, seeks refuge for the night. Although the Normans present, including De Bois-Guilbert and Sir Hugh De Bracy, protest, Cedric offers hospitality to Isaac, insisting that everyone is welcome at his table. As they dine, the Normans discuss a tournament that will soon take place in Ashby, prompting Guilbert to recall a past tournament during which a masked Saxon knight named Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe bested him, then disappeared. Cedric then bitterly says that Ivanhoe was his son, but is now dead to him. Ivanhoe later reveals himself to Cedric and asks for money to save Richard, but Cedric is convinced the king is dead and refuses. Ivanhoe tells Rowena that he will see her after winning the tournament, then leaves with Wamba. Later that night, Norman soldiers attempt to rob Isaac, who has been forced to sleep in the barn, but Ivanhoe and Wamba interrupt the attack. A grateful Isaac then takes Ivanhoe and Wamba to his home in Sheffield, where Ivanhoe asks Isaac to help raise money for Richard's ransom. Isaac does not find Richard any more sympathetic to Jews than John, but because Isaac is in Ivanhoe's debt, he promises to supplement whatever money is raised. The next night, a young woman who says that she is the servant of Isaac's daughter Rebecca, approaches Ivanhoe at the inn at which he is staying and offers jewels to finance his kit in the tournament. Looking closely at her eyes, Ivanhoe recognizes her as the beautiful woman he noticed at the window of Isaac's house and deduces that she is Rebecca. On the day of the jousting tournament, Prince John presides as well-outfitted Normans defeat ragged Saxon challengers. Then Ivanhoe rides onto the field, suited in black armor and identifying himself only as a Saxon. The Saxons cheer as he challenges, then bests, five Norman knights in a row. Despite a wound in the shoulder, Ivanhoe stays on his horse and is declared the winner. As the victor, Ivanhoe selects Rowena as the tournament's Queen of Love and Beauty, then must fight Guilbert, who now recognizes him. After a fierce battle, Ivanhoe is knocked from his horse and carried off the field. Rebecca, who tells Rowena that she has learned the medical arts from a woman burned as a witch, attends to Ivanhoe's serious wounds. Although Rowena senses that Rebecca loves Ivanhoe, she knows that he will be well cared for by her and allows him to be taken to Isaac's house. Their departure is observed by a Norman who tells Guilbert. That night, Guilbert tells John about Ivanhoe's attempts to raise Richard's ransom money and the involvement of Isaac, who is a wealthy banker. Meanwhile, in Sheffield, Rebecca confesses her love to the unconscious Ivanhoe, but is gently warned by her father that her love is impossible because she is a Jew. When Ivanhoe awakens, Isaac tells him that money for the ransom is growing, just as Wamba and Locksley, a Saxon nobleman who lives in the forest, arrive to warn him that "Prince John's jackals" are after him. Wamba adds that Cedric and Rebecca have come to Sheffield to be near him, prompting Ivanhoe to ask Wamba to take Rebecca to Cedric while he hides in the forest with Locksley. By the time Guilbert and De Bracey arrive at Sheffield, Ivanhoe is gone, further angering Guilbert. He and his men soon find the caravan on which Rebecca and Rowena are traveling, and take the women, Cedric and Wamba prisoner. Hearing of their capture, Ivanhoe approaches Guilbert's castle and asks that he be allowed to take their place. Guilbert agrees, then Ivanhoe enters the courtyard and asks to speak to Cedric, with whom he reconciles. Instead of allowing Cedric and the others to leave, however, Guilbert breaks his word and puts both men in chains. Upstairs, the ambitious De Bracy proposes to Rowena, who is the last of the royal Saxons, but she slaps him. Later Guilbert, who desires Rebecca, tells her that he must possess her. She runs to the balcony and threatens to jump, but when he offers to free Ivanhoe if she returns his passion, she agrees. Just then Locksley and his archers surround the castle. Guilbert has Ivanhoe brought up from the dungeon and threatens to hang him, but Ivanhoe is able to escape when the archers fire arrows at his guards. As a battle ensues, Ivanhoe frees the men in the dungeon, but in doing so a fire erupts that envelopes Wamba. As more of Locksley's men storm the castle, Ivanhoe rescues Rowena from De Bracy, but Guilbert escapes by using Rebecca as a shield. When Guilbert brings Rebecca to Prince John's court, John and his advisers come up with a plan to use their captive. A few days later, Isaac tells Ivanhoe that the king's ransom money has been raised, but Ivanhoe reveals that John has demanded the same amount to free Rebecca or she will be burned as a witch. Isaac tells Ivanhoe that it is his responsibility to free Rebecca and insists that the money raised be sent to ransom Richard. Seeing Ivanhoe's concern, Rowena reveals her fears that he is in love with Rebecca, but he denies it. At Rebecca's trial, paid and coerced witnesses testify that she is a witch, and only Guilbert defends her. After Rebecca denies that she is a witch, Guilbert asks to speak with her privately and begs her to renounce her faith to save her life. After her refusal, the court sentences her to burn at the stake. Just then, Ivanhoe, who has secretly watched the trial, throws down his glove and challenges the court to determine her guilt by a battle with her champion. John accepts the challenge and chooses Guilbert as his champion for a fight to the death at Ashby. Moments before the tournament, Guilbert offers to default to Ivanhoe if Rebecca will only accept his love, but Rebecca answers that they are in God's hands. While Guilbert and Ivanhoe battle hand-to-hand with ball and chain, Richard and his men ride onto the field, forcing John to bow in submission. Ivanhoe finally defeats Guilbert, who dies after telling Rebecca he loves her and that fate made her love Ivanhoe instead of him. After Guilbert dies, Rowena questions Rebecca about Ivanhoe, but she insists that his heart belongs to Rowena.

After hitchhiking from Chicago, young George Eastman (Montgomery Clift) arrives at the Eastman bathing suit factory and arranges to visit his uncle Charles (Herbert Hayes), the company's president, at his home that evening. Charles, a tycoon who recently met his nephew for the first time, introduces George to his wife Louise (Kathryn Givney), daughter Marsha (Lois Chartland) and son Earl. The Eastmans gingerly question George about his widowed mother Hannah, a religious mission worker in Chicago, and George, keenly aware of his lowly social position, responds with vague politeness. After Charles insists that Earl, who has a management position at the factory, find a job for his cousin, debutante Angela Vickers (Elizabeth Taylor) enters the room, mesmerizing George with her beauty. The next day at the factory, the condescending Earl assigns George to the assembly area, where the bathing suits are put into boxes, and advises him about the strict rules against dating fellow employees. George works tirelessly and at night in his modest apartment, composes a list of suggestions for improving productivity on the assembly benches. Yearning to succeed, George drives to the Eastmans' during one of their lavish parties and sees Angela arriving, but cannot bring himself to go inside. Instead, he goes to a movie and ends up sitting next to co-worker Alice Tripp (Shelly Winters). After the movie, George and Alice walk together, and she comments that George will always be different because he is an Eastman. The uneducated George maintains that he is not special and becomes momentarily lost in thought when he notices a boy singing in a sidewalk mission group. George then asks Alice about her life, and she reveals that she came from a poor family and, ironically, never learned how to swim. Outside Alice's furnished room, George and Alice kiss and agree to see each other again. Later, at the end of another date, the couple wind up in Alice's room and spend the night together. The next morning at the factory, Charles comes through the assembly area and, seeing George, offers to promote him and invites him to another party. When Alice learns that the party coincides with George's birthday, she reminds him that she had already planned a party for him and insists that he leave the Eastmans' early. At the Eastmans', George feels out of place and seeks refuge in the deserted billiard room. While playing pool by himself, George is noticed by Angela, and the two strike up a friendly conversation. Just then, Charles bursts in and insists that George call his mother about his promotion. Though embarrassed, George complies, while Angela hangs on his arm, teasing him. George and Angela spend a few romantic hours dancing, and when George finally shows up at Alice's, she is angry and informs him that she is pregnant. Though stunned, George reassures her, but later accepts Angela's invitation to a party at her parents' house. There, George and Angela confess their love, and George frets that Angela will be leaving soon to spend the summer at her parents' lakeside home. After Angela assures him that they can still see each other, they kiss with deep passion. Later, Alice goes to see Dr. Wyeland about her pregnancy, but he insists that he will help her only if she intends to have the baby. Although Alice tells George that he must now marry her, George protests and asks for time. Alice agrees to wait until the first week in September, when George will be taking his vacation. Sometime later, Angela drops by George's apartment to tell him that her parents have invited him to visit at the lake during his vacation. George calls Alice and begs for another week, stating that he will be with his uncle at the lake and might get a bonus. Reluctantly Alice complies, and George begins a carefree holiday with Angela. At secluded Loon Lake, Angela brings up the subject of marriage and piques George's interest when she tells him about a couple who drowned there the summer before. Alice, meanwhile, waits for mail from George, but instead sees a newspaper photograph of him with Angela. Back at the lake, during a Hawaiian-themed dinner, George receives a phone call from Alice, demanding that he come for her at the bus station. George lies to Angela that his mother is ill, and at the station, Alice threatens to expose George unless he marries her immediately. George gives in, and the next day, he and Alice go to the county courthouse to wed, but discover that it is closed because it is Labor Day. Seeing an opportunity, George suggests that they picnic at Loon Lake and spend the night at the lodge. Before reaching the lodge, George then pretends to have run out of gas and rents a boat under an assumed name. George rows Alice to the far side of the lake and, after night falls, listens with growing agitation as she chatters about how happy they are going to be. Sensing George's displeasure, Alice abruptly asks him if he wished she were dead, and George fights to maintain his composure. When Alice suddenly rises to come to him, causing the boat to sway, George tries to stop her, but the boat capsizes. George and Alice both fall into the water, but only George makes it to the shore while Alice drowns. Stumbling in the dark, George walks into a Boy Scout camp before locating his car and driving off. The next day, George returns to the Vickers', while at the courthouse, District Attorney R. Frank Marlowe (Raymond Burr) is notified about Alice's death. After questioning the boat keeper and the Boy Scout who saw George, Marlowe concludes that only Alice drowned. Detectives then interrogate Alice's landlady, who repeats gossip that Alice was involved with George. George, meanwhile, has a frank conversation about his background with Angela's father Anthony and impresses him with his honesty. Although Angela is unaware of the murder investigation, George senses the police will soon be closing in on him and asks Angela to believe in him, no matter what she may hear. After she swears her undying love, George says goodbye and is arrested by the police. Determined to keep his daughter's name out of the trial, Anthony puts up the money for George's defense. Angela follows the proceedings while in school, but remains dazed by the desperate turn of events. During the trial, several witnesses implicate George as well as the circumstances that he premeditated murdering Alice to free himself from a loveless relationship. At the climax of the trial, George takes the witness stand himself where he describes all about his relationship with Alice and Angela as well as the details from that day that Alice drowned by accident and he fled from the scene out of fear of loosing everything including a romance with Angela. But when Marlowe harshly cross-examines him, he brings up the various circumstances (George renting the canoe under a false name, not reporting the accident, etc.) and openly accuses George of bashing in Alice's head before throwing her overboard. George admits that he had thought about killing Alice, but changed his mind before the boat accidentally capsized. Despite his candid testimony, George is convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to die. In prison a few weeks later, George is counseled by both his mother and a minister to look into his heart to determine whether he did everything he could to save Alice. Haunted by a vision of Angela, George confesses that he is unsure. Just before his execution, Angela visits George and quietly declares she still loves him. Accepting his fate, George then is led out of his cell to his execution.

In the small town of Concord, Massachusetts during the Civil War, the March sisters--Meg, Jo, Amy and Beth--live with their mother in a state of genteel poverty, their father having lost the family's fortune to an unscrupulous businessman several years earlier. While Mr. March serves in the Union Army, Mrs. March, affectionately referred to as "Marmee" by her daughters, holds the family together and teaches the girls the importance of giving to those less fortunate than themselves, especially during the upcoming Christmas season. Though the spoiled and vain Amy often bemoans the family's lack of material wealth and social status, Jo, an aspiring writer, keeps everyone entertained with her stories and plays, while the youngest March, the shy and sensitive Beth, accompanies Jo's productions on an out-of-tune piano. The spirited Jo, a tomboy in search of male companionship, strikes up a friendship with Theodore "Laurie" Laurence, the grandson of the March's wealthy, but cantankerous neighbor, James Laurence. Later that winter, Jo so impresses Mr. Laurence with her forthrightness and her beneficial effect on the brooding Laurie, that he invites the March sisters to a fancy dress ball at his sumptuous home. At the ball, Meg is courted by John Brooke, Laurie's tutor, and Jo consents to dance with Laurie while Amy and Beth breathlessly view the scene from their perch atop the staircase. Mr. Laurence's gruff demeanor is softened upon meeting Beth, who reminds him of the beloved granddaughter he lost, and when he learns of her musical talent, he offers her the use of his grand piano. The beautiful evening ends on a sour note, however, when Amy and Beth overhear the snobbish Mrs. Gardiner and her daughter gossiping about Marmee. As the weeks pass, Laurie's affection for Jo grows, but Jo rebuffs him as a suitor, claiming that although she loves him as a friend, she will never marry. Meanwhile, Jo attempts to discourage Meg's deepening feelings for Mr. Brooke, fearing that a marriage will break the bond between the sisters. Spring arrives, and Marmee receives word that Mr. March has been wounded and sent to an Army hospital in Washington, D.C. Jo asks her wealthy Aunt March for Marmee's train fare, but the two have a heated argument when the impatient Jo refuses to address Aunt March with the decorum the proud woman demands. As usual, Aunt March comes through for the family, but not before Jo has had her beautiful chestnut locks cut off and sold in order to pay for Marmee's trip. While carrying out Marmee's work for the poor in her absence, Beth contracts scarlet fever, and the distressed and frightened sisters realize how much they depend upon Marmee. Just as Marmee returns, however, Beth's fever breaks, and the entire family is reunited when Laurie arranges for the surprise return of Mr. March. A few months later, Meg marries Mr. Brooke and Laurie asks Jo to marry him, but she turns him down, explaining that she is uncomfortable in high society and wishes to devote her life to writing. Greatly disappointed, Laurie leaves for Europe, and Jo, saddened by the seeming loss of both Meg and Laurie, who she considers to be her best friend, moves to New York to pursue her career. While boarding at the home of the Kirke family, Jo meets Prof. Bhaer, the Kirke children's German tutor, who introduces her to art museums and the opera. Prof. Bhaer agrees to read Jo's stories, but Jo is devastated when he later criticizes her work, dismissing it as sensationalist. Bursting into tears, Jo reveals that she feels abandoned by Laurie and hurt that Aunt March, who had long promised her a trip to Europe, has taken Amy instead. After consoling Jo, with whom he has fallen in love, Prof. Bhaer advises her to write from her heart, and Jo decides to return home where she is needed, for Beth is again very ill. Upon her return to the now nearly empty March household, Jo learns that her beloved Beth is dying and spends the next few weeks caring for the courageous girl, who bears her suffering without complaint. After Beth's death, Jo assuages her grief by writing a novel entitled My Beth , which she sends to Prof. Bhaer for his opinion. Later, Meg, now the mother of twins, gently informs Jo that Laurie and Amy have fallen in love in Europe and are to be married. Although Jo is happy for the couple, she realizes for the first time how lonely she is and how much she wishes to be loved. A few weeks later, Laurie and Amy return as husband and wife, and the Marchs's joyfully celebrate the family's reunion. The festivities are interrupted when Prof. Bhaer arrives with Jo's novel, which he has had published. However, when Laurie answers the door, Prof. Bhaer mistakenly assumes that Jo has married her friend and politely declines Laurie's invitation to join the party. After Jo catches up to her departing suitor, the two embrace and Prof. Bhaer proposes marriage. Jo happily accepts, then leads her future husband back to the warmth of the house, where her family awaits them.

New York City, 1883 Businessman Clarence Day strives to run his Madison Avenue home as efficiently as his business. His temperamental outbursts over the smallest infractions so terrorize the servants that even the charm of his sweet-tempered wife Vinnie cannot keep a maid longer than a few days. Vinnie and Clare have four sons, all of whom are redheaded like their parents. The eldest, Clarence, Jr., is headed for Yale. John, the next eldest, likes to invent things, while brother Whitney struggles to learn his catechism, and Harlan, the youngest, is most interested in his dog. Knowing how much Clare dislikes it when visitors stay in the house, Vinnie neglects to tell her husband that their cousin, Cora Cartwright, and her young companion, Mary Skinner, will spend a week with them. Clare is even more put out when he learns that Vinnie has promised that he will take Cora and Mary to Delmonico's restaurant for dinner. As usual, however, Vinnie gets her way. Clare even agrees to take Clarence, who has developed a crush on Mary, to dinner. Later, Mary divulges that she is a Methodist, unlike the Days, who are Episcopalian. During the course of the ensuing religious discussion, it is revealed that Clare has never been baptized. Vinnie is very upset and insists that Clare rectify the oversight to ensure that they will be reunited after death, but Clare refuses, certain that God would never be so imprudent as to deny him entry into heaven. Meanwhile, Clarence becomes convinced that wearing Clare's made-over suit forces him to behave like his father. When his stern reaction to Mary's innocent flirtation sends her away in tears, Clarence becomes determined to earn enough money to buy his own suit. He and John get a job selling patent medicine and try it on Vinnie without her knowledge. The medicine makes Vinnie so ill that Clare, believing her to be near death, promises that he will be baptized if she gets well. When Vinnie recovers, however, Clare reneges on his promise. Unknown to Clare, Vinnie then arranges for him to be baptized at a church in Audubon Park so that he will not be embarrassed in front of his acquaintances, but he remains adamantly opposed. Vinnie's opportunity arrives when Clare is repulsed by a ceramic pug dog that she recently purchased and refuses to be baptized as long as it remains in the house. Vinnie quickly dispatches Clarence to return the dog to the store and authorizes him to spend the money on a new suit, which just happens to cost exactly the same amount as the piece of pottery. The next morning, Cora and Mary return for another visit and, wearing his own suit, Clarence makes up with Mary. Taking advantage of the confusion, Vinnie arranges for an expensive cab to drive Clare to Audubon Park. Although Clare protests the expense and denies that he agreed to be baptized if the pug was returned, Vinnie uses her own subtle persuasion to round up the entire family to witness Clare's long-postponed baptism.