Mildred Natwick

In Vevey, Switzerland, Randolph C. Miller, a young American boy, runs around a hotel by himself. On the outdoor patio, he asks another American, Frederick Winterbourn, for a lump of sugar. When Annie P. Miller, known as "Daisy," saunters onto the patio carrying a parasol, Randolph identifies her as his older sister. Frederick engages Daisy in conversation and learns that she and Randolph are from upstate New York, and plan to visit Italy after their stay in Switzerland. Daisy chats nonstop, hardly allowing Frederick time to respond to her questions. They make plans to visit Chillon, a nearby castle. Later, Frederick's aunt, Mrs. Costello, tells him that the Miller family are not well-mannered. She criticizes Daisy and her mother's familiarity with their European courier, Eugenio, and suspects they may even dine with him. Frederick tells her about the plans he made to go to Chillon with Daisy, and she reprimands him. After dinner at the hotel, Frederick finds Daisy on the patio. Based on Frederick's description of his aunt, Daisy suspects she disapproves of her but tells him not to worry. When Daisy introduces her mother to Frederick and mentions their upcoming date, Mrs. Miller drones on, in the same manner as her daughter, about her reasons for not visiting the castle. As in conversation with Daisy, Frederick finds it difficult to interrupt. Daisy begs Frederick to take her out on a boat, but Mrs. Miller does not approve. Eugenio arrives and, at Mrs. Miller's command, forbids Daisy to go on the boat. Daisy leaves with her mother and Eugenio, telling Frederick she hopes the disappointment doesn't keep him awake. One morning, Frederick and Daisy run to catch the ferryboat heading to Chillon. At the castle, Frederick tells her he went to school in Geneva as a boy and has lived in Europe ever since. After he recites a poem, Daisy decides he would be a good teacher for Randolph and suggests he accompany her family to Italy, but he declines, saying he must return to Geneva. Agitated by the rejection, Daisy storms outside where Frederick catches up to her. She demands to know if he has a romantic interest in Geneva but Frederick denies it. Calming down, she asks him to meet her when her family is in Rome, and he agrees. Sometime later, Frederick visits his aunt at her new apartment in Rome. She supplies him with gossip about Daisy, namely that she has been associating with an Italian gentleman. Frederick attends a tea party at the home of Mrs. Walker, and encounters Daisy there. The hostess is irritated as Daisy flirts with Frederick and urges him to escort her to her next destination. Soon after, Mrs. Walker spies from a nearby carriage as Frederick and Daisy meet her Italian friend, Mr. Giovanelli, in a park. The trio walk, arm in arm, with Daisy in the middle. Mrs. Walker sends a messenger to Frederick who goes to her carriage, where she informs him that Daisy is embarrassing herself and should come to the carriage at once. Daisy comes over with Giovanelli and introduces him, but Mrs. Walker orders her into the carriage, saying her reputation is in danger as long as she stays out with the two men. Daisy refuses and asks Frederick what he thinks, and he agrees with Mrs. Walker. Peeved, Daisy leaves with Giovanelli. Mrs. Walker insists Frederick get into the carriage. As they drive away, she tells him everyone in town is talking about Daisy and her reckless behavior. Frederick agrees that Daisy's family seems tasteless, but insists that he likes her regardless. Disappointed, Mrs. Walker allows Frederick to leave the carriage and rejoin Daisy and Giovanelli. Before he catches up to them, however, Giovanelli spots him and uses Daisy's parasol to block Frederick's view. One night, Mrs. Miller arrives at Mrs. Walker's home for a party, apologizes that her daughter is late, and explains that she has been singing and playing piano with Giovanelli at their hotel. Later, Daisy and her Italian suitor arrive, and she insists that he sing for Mrs. Walker's guests. While Giovanelli performs, Frederick finds Daisy and warns her that her actions are improper, saying that flirting is an American custom, unacceptable in European society. Daisy rejects his advice and reunites with Giovanelli after his performance. When Daisy departs with her mother and Giovanelli, Mrs. Walker ignores their goodbyes, telling Frederick that Daisy will never be invited to her home again. Frederick later visits Daisy at her hotel and notices two bellboys snickering at him, assuming he's another of her many suitors. Frederick runs into his aunt, and they observe Daisy walking with Giovanelli. His aunt again discourages Frederick from associating with her. One day, at the Millers' hotel suite, Frederick visits with Daisy and Giovanelli, who are at the piano, playing "Pop Goes the Weasel." Giovanni plays a song for Daisy to sing, and Frederick watches, mesmerized. Mrs. Miller returns home and mentions her suspicion that Daisy might be engaged to Giovanelli, and Frederick abruptly leaves. One day, Daisy finds Frederick walking alone and joins him. He informs her that Mrs. Miller mentioned a possible engagement, and Daisy teases him by saying she is engaged and, moments later, denying it. In a carriage at night, Frederick confides to his friend, Charles, that he cannot decide whether Daisy is reckless or exceedingly naive. Despondent, he leaves the carriage and walks home. On his way, he passes through the Colosseum and runs into Daisy and Giovanelli. He reprimands Giovanelli for bringing her there, as it is a breeding ground for the Roman flu. Frederick criticizes Daisy's lack of prudence, and she leaves in a huff. At the opera, Frederick overhears a group of women gossiping about Daisy and learns that she has caught the Roman flu. Soon after, Frederick visits the Millers' hotel suite. Mrs. Miller complains that Giovanelli has disappeared since Daisy became ill and says that Daisy wanted Frederick to know she is definitely not engaged. Sometime later, Frederick mourns alongside Giovanelli, Mrs. Miller, and Randolph at Daisy's funeral. Giovanelli tells Frederick that Daisy was the most innocent girl he knew but admits she never would have married him. Frederick later expresses to his aunt that he regrets the manner in which he treated Daisy.

Conservative young lawyer Paul Bratter marries the vivacious Corie Banks. Their highly passionate relationship descends into discord when they rent their first apartment - a rundown five-flight NYC walk-up with eccentric neighbors. New Yorkers Paul Bratter and Corie Bratter née Banks have just gotten married. He is a stuffed shirt just starting his career as a lawyer. She is an independent-minded free spirit who prides herself on doing the illogical purely out of a sense of adventure, such acts as walking through Washington Square Park barefoot when it's 17°F outside. Their 6-day honeymoon at the Plaza Hotel shows that they can get to know each other easily in the biblical sense. But they will see if they can get to know each other in their real life when they move into their first apartment, a cozy (in other words, small), slightly-broken-down top-floor unit in a five-story walk-up. While Corie joyfully bounds up and down the stairs, Paul, always winded after a long day, hates needing to walk up the six flights (including the stairs that comprise the outside front stoop. Beyond the issues with the apartment itself, Paul and Corie must deal with an odd assortment of neighbors, most specifically eccentric senior Victor Velasco, who lives in the unusual attic and considers himself a dirty old man. Corie, worried about her single strait-laced mother Ethel Banks, wants to set her up with Victor. Without Corie or Paul truly realizing it, Ethel and Victor as a twosome is as illogical as Corie and Paul. What happens between Ethel and Victor may predict whether Corie and Paul's marriage can last in the long run. —Huggo Paul Bratter, a conservative young lawyer, marries a vivacious young woman, Corrie. Their highly-passionate relationship descends into comical discord in a five-flight walk-up New York City apartment. When Corie meets one of the neighbors, an older single man, she wonders if her lonely mother would be interested in meeting him. —Jim Cobb Combines love and laughs. Paul Bratter is a newly-married lawyer. Corie Bratter is a newly-married woman whose main goal in life is to have fun, and to have it with Paul. Together they learn how to live and love in an apartment that's laughably small in New York and located on the fifth floor of a building with no elevator. Corie's mother has some of the funniest lines. —Kathy Moore <kathy.moore@ericsson.com> Paul Bratter is Mister Straight. Corie is his new wife, who dedicates her life to the pursuit of fun. As the ecstasy of the honeymoon gives way to the reality of setting up housekeeping in a five-flight walk-up, the harmony of marriage turns to comical discord. The mother-in-law complains meekly. The middle-aged Lothario upstairs flirts. Joy turns to anguish. There is little doubt that the young people will kiss and make up by the end of the picture, just as there's little doubt that mother and the neighbor will find each other. —Anonymous

One morning, in a forested area near the village of Highwater, Vermont, four-year-old Arnie Rogers is playing when he stumbles across the body of a dead man. After Arnie rushes off to get his mother, retired seaman Captain Albert Wiles, who has been unsuccessfully hunting rabbits, cleans his rifle. Having shot a beer can and a "no shooting" sign, Capt. Wiles is lamenting his luck when he stumbles across the corpse. Fearing that his third shot killed the man, who has a wound on his forehead, Capt. Wiles searches his pockets and finds a letter identifying him as Harry Worp of Boston. As Capt. Wiles is dragging Harry away to bury him, he is stopped by spinster Miss Ivy Graveley, who calmly asks him what the trouble is. Miss Graveley, who was out for a walk, is unperturbed by Capt. Wiles's situation, and agrees with him that he should bury Harry without involving the authorities, as the death was accidental. Miss Graveley leaves after inviting Capt. Wiles for tea later that day, but before Capt. Wiles can begin digging, Arnie returns with his mother, Jennifer Rogers. The captain quickly hides behind a tree, and is pleased to hear Jennifer, who recognizes Harry, express delight that he is dead and instruct Arnie to forget that he saw the body. After Jennifer and Arnie leave, Capt. Wiles is forced to continue hiding when Dr. Greenbow, engrossed in a book, wanders by but does not see Harry, and a tramp also comes by and steals Harry's shoes. While the captain falls asleep, in the village, eccentric painter Sam Marlowe cheerfully reprimands Emporium store owner Mrs. Wiggs for not being able to sell his abstract paintings at her roadside stand. While the pair are inside the store, however, they ignore a millionaire, who has stopped while driving by and wishes to buy the paintings. Soon after, Sam walks through the woods with his sketchbook and comes across the dead body, of whom he draws a portrait. The captain wakes up and explains his situation to Sam, who reluctantly agrees to help him bury the corpse, provided that Jennifer does not intend to notify the police. Capt. Wiles decides that Sam is right and goes off to dine with Miss Graveley while Sam introduces himself to Jennifer, whom he has admired from afar. Jennifer calmly takes Sam's unusual manner in stride and explains that after her first husband, Arnie's father, died shortly after their marriage, she learned that she was pregnant. Harry, the older brother of Jennifer's husband, decided that it was his duty to marry her, and although she did not love him, Jennifer agreed for the sake of her child. On their wedding night, however, Harry never came up to their hotel room, and Jennifer learned that he had read an ominous horoscope, advising him not to undertake any long-term projects. Repulsed, Jennifer left Harry, changed her name and moved to Vermont. That morning, however, Harry found her and insisted that she return to him because he was lonely. Refusing, Jennifer hit him over the head with a milk bottle and the dazed Harry wandered off. Theorizing that Capt. Wiles's shot finished off Harry, Sam asks if Jennifer minds a quiet burial for Harry, and Jennifer gives her assent. Meanwhile, the flirtatious captain is enjoying his luncheon with Miss Graveley when Arnie arrives with a dead rabbit, which Capt. Wiles happily realizes he shot that morning. Capt. Wiles then joins Sam in the woods, where they bury Harry in a huge hole. After they are done, however, Capt. Wiles deduces that he could not have shot Harry if his third and last shot felled the rabbit instead, and persuades a tired Sam to dig up Harry so they can examine him. Upon looking closely, Sam decides that Harry died from a blow to the head and wonders if Jennifer killed him. Determined to protect Jennifer, Sam and the captain again bury Harry. Later that afternoon, Capt. Wiles talks with Miss Graveley, who confesses her fear that she killed Harry during her morning walk in the woods. She describes how the addled Harry, believing that she was his wife, dragged her into the bushes, and she stunned him with a blow to the head with her sturdy hiking shoe. Despite the captain's misgivings, Miss Graveley insists that she must tell the authorities, and they go to the woods, where they dig up Harry. Meanwhile, Sam is at Jennifer's house, where the couple admits that they are comfortable together, despite having known each other for only a short time. Their conversation is interrupted by Capt. Wiles and Miss Graveley, who arrive covered with dirt and tell them of Harry's latest dis-internment. The group then concludes that Harry should be re-buried, so that the details of Jennifer's marriage to him will not become public. After burying the body yet again, the quartet is returning to the village when Mrs. Wiggs tells them that the millionaire has come back and wants to buy Sam's paintings. In the store, Sam refuses the millionaire's offer of money and instead asks his friends what they want. Upon agreeing on fresh strawberries every month for Jennifer, a chemistry set for Arnie, a cash register for Mrs. Wiggs, shooting clothes for Capt. Wiles and a hope chest for Miss Graveley, Sam whispers his own request to the millionaire. After the millionaire and his chauffeur leave, Calvin, Mrs. Wiggs's son and a deputy sheriff, arrives with the news that he found the tramp with the stolen shoes. The quartet beats a hasty retreat, but after they depart, Calvin finds Sam's sketchbook with the portrait of Harry, which matches the tramp's description of the corpse. Meanwhile, at Jennifer's house, Jennifer agrees to marry Sam, which delights everyone until they realize that she cannot legally marry again until she proves that Harry is dead. Dragging themselves back into the woods, the friends dig up Harry and are startled by the sudden appearance of Dr. Greenbow, who believes that they have just come across Harry and agrees to examine him at Jennifer's house. There, the friends are attempting to clean Harry so that the doctor will not suspect that he has been buried several times already when they are interrupted by Calvin. They quickly hide Harry in the bathtub and scatter his clothes around the house, after which a suspicious Calvin interrogates Sam. Sam casually manages to alter his drawing so that it no longer resembles Harry, and as the doctor arrives, Capt. Wiles steals Harry's shoes out of Calvin's car so that Calvin will not have any other evidence. After Calvin finally leaves, the friends are astounded when Greenbow announces that Harry died from a heart attack. Once the doctor departs, the friends decide to take Harry back to the woods and have Arnie, who has a tenuous grasp of the passage of time, discover him again, so that they can alert the police. In the morning, the quartet watches as Arnie finds Harry, then rushes off to get Jennifer. Before they disperse, however, Capt. Wiles questions Sam about his request from the millionaire, and Sam happily reveals that he asked for a double bed. The film closes with the text proclaiming: "The Trouble with Harry is over".

During the main titles, Danny Kaye, dressed as a jester, sings the clever song, Life Could Not Better Be, with lyrics that are apropos to the actors or technicians who are being introduced. A narrator introduces the film while the audience sees a cadre of horsemen riding along the English coastline: "This is the story of how the destiny of a nation was changed by a birthmark, a royal birthmark, on the royal posterior of a royal infant child." Roderick the Tyrant had killed all of the royal family except for a baby boy who survived and has been cared for by a group in the forest. This band of loyalists to the throne is lead by a Robin Hood-type outlaw, the Black Fox (Edward Ashley). The scene changes to the castle where King Roderick (Cecil Parker) is considering an alliance with Griswold of McElwaine in which the King would offer his daughter, Gwendolyn (Angela Lansbury), as Griswold's bride. Gwendolyn is completely opposed to this arrangement. Back in the forest, the audience is led to believe the Black Fox is singing "(You'll Never) Outfox the Fox." He is assisted by a band of midgets, all in Black Fox outfits. However, soon the real Black Fox arrives and we learn that the person who was impersonating the Black Fox is Hubert Hawkins (Danny Kaye), a former carnival entertainer, and the midgets are his pals from the carnival. When the Black Fox reprimands Hawkins for wearing his clothes, he responds that he is only trying to improve the morale of the troops. Maid Jean (Glynis Johns), who is a Captain in the Black Fox's band of outlaws, enters to announce that a group of recruits is arriving. The Black Fox orders Hawkins to get the child - the royal child. Hawkins retrieves the infant and holds the baby on his shoulder to reveal the royal birthmark - the purple pimpernel - for the recruits to see so they will know the Black Fox and his gang are fighting to restore the rightful heir to the throne. The Black Fox orders Hawkins and the Captain to transport the baby to the Abbey in Dover for safekeeping. Hawkins disguises himself as an old man, while Jean transforms from the Captain into a lovely young maiden. They conceal the baby in a fake wine cask. When the King's men stop them on the road, Hawkins claims he is Foutzingdale, the wine merchant, and Jean is his granddaughter. After safely eluding the King's forces, a thunderstorm forces Hawkins and Jean to spend the night in a woodman's hut. Hawkins sings "Baby, Let Me Take You Dreaming," as a lullaby for the baby. Since there is only one straw bed, Hawkins and Captain Jean share it. Hawkins has always been attracted to Jean and she now warms to him. They kiss, but Jean resists. She says, "We daren't think of ourselves until our fight is won." Jean reveals to Hawkins the existence of a secret tunnel leading from the forest to the castle. The problem is it is locked at both ends and the key is in the King's possession. However, if they could get someone inside the castle that could access the King's chambers and retrieve the key, it could be opened so the Black Fox's forces could launch a surprise attack against King Roderick. Suddenly, their planning is interrupted by a stranger entering the hut seeking shelter. He introduces himself as Giacomo (David Carradine; Giacomo is pronounced "Jockamo"), "King of Jesters and Jester of Kings." He is headed for King Roderick's court to become his jester. Jean knocks out Giacomo so Hawkins can become the jester. The wicked Sir Ravenhurst (Basil Rathbone) has hired Giacomo as jester because he is also an assassin. So Hawkins assumes the identity of Giacomo and heads for the castle, while Jean and the infant king continue their journey to the Abbey. However, Giacomo's wagon loses a wheel, so he is delayed on the road and Jean runs afoul of the King's men who are scouring the countryside for the fairest wenches in the land. Therefore, Jean and the wine cart with the precious baby hidden inside arrive at the castle before the new Giacomo has finished repairing his cart. Once at the castle, Jean whistles a secret signal. A blacksmith responds to the signal and takes the child to safety. When Giacomo finally arrives, he sings "My Heart Knows a Lovely Song," which includes the whistle signal. When Giacomo hears the signal returned, he thinks it came from Lord Ravenhurst. Meanwhile, Princess Gwendolyn is fretting to the witch, Griselda (Mildred Natwick), about being forced to marry Griswold. Griselda reassures her that she is destined to wed someone else. When Griselda witnesses the arrival of Giacomo, she tells Gwendolyn he is her intended. Ravenhurst introduces Giacomo to the King. Their conversation about the Italian court is a classic Danny Kaye tongue-twister that ends with, "Yes! The Duchess dove at the Duke just when the Duke dove at the Doge. Now the Duke ducked, the Doge dodged, and the Duchess didn't. So the Duke got the Duchess, the Duchess got the Doge, and the Doge got the Duke!" The King is on his way to select a wench from those who have been recently rounded up by his men. Ravenhurst convinces the King to allow Giacomo to make the appropriate selection. During all of this, the blacksmith is desperately trying to identify himself to Hawkins as his contact. Shortly after Giacomo is shown to his room, the blacksmith comes there, but is interrupted by the arrival of Griselda. Using her evil eye, she hypnotizes Giacomo. He can be brought in and out of this trance by the snap of a finger. She sends him to make love to the Princess. The blacksmith, who has been hiding behind a curtain, has overheard everything. Meanwhile, Jean has made her way to the King's chamber and has found the key to the secret tunnel. As she is leaving, she runs into Giacomo, who is under Griselda's spell. Jean, unaware of the trance, gives the key to Giacomo. When the King arrives, he thinks Jean is Giacomo's choice from the wenches and immediately takes a fancy to her. Giacomo continues to the Princess' chamber. Gwendolyn discovers the key and assumes he has secured it for their escape from the castle. She keeps the key and gives him her silk handkerchief. In several instances, finger snaps bring Giacomo in and out of the trance with comic results. When he leaves Gwendolyn, Giacomo goes to Ravenhurst's chamber, where again finger snaps cause hilarious results. At one instant he is Ravenhurst's assassin-for-hire, at another he is in Griselda's trance as the super confident romancer, and at another he is Hawkins, the scared former carnival performer. When he leaves Ravenhurst, he returns to his room where Griselda puts him to sleep. Meanwhile, Jean is being dressed by ladies-in-waiting for her presentation to the King. She sends the attendants away when she hears the whistle signal from the blacksmith. She tells him to take the baby to the jester. Once Giacomo awakens, he is the jester again. When he arrives at the King's banquet room, he sees Jean seated next to the King. During this sequence, there is great deal of confusion: the blacksmith delivers the baby to Giacomo in a basket, Ravenhurst confuses Giacomo by talking about Plan 1 and Plan 2 in the assassination attempt, and Gwendolyn tells him to meet her at midnight at the north gate. When he finally realizes that the infant king is in the basket, he diverts everyone's attention away from the basket by singing "The Maladjusted Jester." During his performance, Griselda puts poison pellets in three flagons. Just as Jean retrieves the basket and is stopped by some guards, Giacomo proposes a toast to the King. As the guards turn to participate in the toast, Jean gets away. Sirs Brockhurst, Finsdale and Pertwee fall over dead when they drink from the poisoned flagons. Ravenhurst is very impressed by Giacomo's tactics. A page announces the arrival of Sir Griswold (Robert Middleton) at the castle. Jean hands the baby off to the blacksmith again. Griswold enters and accepts the terms of the alliance, but Gwendolyn tells her father she loves someone else and refuses to marry Griswold. She has presented her loved one with her silk handkerchief. Giacomo is arrested and they find Gwendolyn's silk handkerchief stuffed in his blouse. The King throws Giacomo, or whoever he is, in jail. When Ravenhurst learns that Giacomo is an impostor, he suspects he is the Black Fox. He recommends the King knight the jester so he can legitimately joust Sir Griswold. The winner, which should be Griswold, would marry Gwendolyn. The King quickly agrees. It usually takes years to attain knighthood, but Giacomo is rushed through the tests with comic ease. Jean approaches the King in his chamber while his dressers are grooming him. She gets him to dismiss his attendants and while she combs his hair, she retreives the key to the secret tunnel. The King also reveals to her the plans to knight the jester so he can be killed in the fight with Griswold. As soon as she gets away from the King, Jean gives the key to the blacksmith to get it to the Black Fox so he can attack. Just before the knighting ceremony, Jean warns Giacomo/Hawkins about the plot and urges him to run. He doesn't get away, however, and the ceremony begins. It is speeded up with hilarious results to allow the tournament to commence before it can be delayed by a storm that is brewing. Immediately upon being knighted, Hawkins is challenged to a duel to the death by Griswold. Gwendolyn expects Giacomo to be killed, so she warns the witch that if he dies, she dies. Therefore, Griselda puts poisonous pellets in the vessel with the pestle. One of Griswold's men overhears the plot and informs his master. In a scene full of tongue-twisting confusion, the "Vessel with the Pestle (or The Pellet with the Poison)" routine begins. Lightning hits Giacomo's suit of armor making it magnetic. During the hilarious joust, Griswold's weapon sticks to Hawkins' shield, so Hawkins pulls him off his horse and wins the joust. When he is proclaimed the winner, Ravenhurst accuses him of being the Black Fox and Jean as being his accomplice. They are arrested and taken to the castle for judgement. In the forest, the Black Fox and his men prepare to sneak inside the castle, but the secret passage collapses. The Black Fox immediately summons Hawkins' midget friends to infiltrate the castle first. As Hawkins and Jean stand trial, the midgets attack. Jean runs to raise the drawbridge so the Black Fox and his men can attack. Hawkins engages Ravenhurst in a sword fight. Griselda hypnotizes him again into believing he is a great swordsman. In the hilarious scene that follows, finger snaps cause him to alternate between a cowardly carnival performer and a master swordsman. Eventually, with the help of Jean, Hawkins bests Ravenhurst. Once the usurpers of the throne are defeated by the Black Fox and the army of midgets, the rightful King is revealed by the distinctive birthmark - the purple pimpernel. Hawkins embraces Jean and sings a reprise of "Life Could Not Better Be." As the film ends, Gwendolyn and Griswold can be seen in the crowd holding hands.

An American, Sean Thornton (John Wayne), arrives in Ireland and plans to settle in Innisfree, where he was born. On the way to Innisfree with Michaeleen Oge Flynn (Barry Fitzerald), Sean spots a redheaded woman moving a flock through the fields. He becomes interested in this unknown woman, and greets her at the church entrance the next day, where he learns her name - Mary Kate Danaher (Maureen O'Hara), a redhead with a temper to match. Sean wants to buy the ancestral Thornton cottage from well-to-do widow, Sarah Tillane (Mildred Natwick), and finds himself in a squabble with "Red" Will Danaher (Victor McLaglen), a neighbor and would-be suitor of the Widow Tillane. Mrs. Tillane, angered by Danaher's presumptuous attitude and bragging at the local pub, sells the land to Thornton. When Sean goes to claim the cottage, he finds Mary Kate there, cleaning it as a good Christian act. Thornton easily fits into Innisfree, earning a reputation as a quiet, peace-loving man. Danaher, however, holds a grudge. When Thornton arranges to court Danaher's sister, Mary Kate, the real fun begins. Thornton learns that Ireland's quaint charm includes some old-fashioned rules of courtship. He needs Squire Danaher's consent to marry Mary Kate, since their father is deceased. He and the local shaughraun (matchmaker), Michaleen Flynn, pay a formal visit to Danaher to ask for Mary Kate's hand. Danaher refuses and orders the two men out of his house. Sean and Mary Kate are devastated. Sean is puzzled by social rules that seem archaic to him, and takes out his frustrations by seemingly reckless cross country rides. Concerned, Thornton's newfound friends - Flynn, Reverend Playfair (Arthur Shields), and Father Lonergan (Ward Bond) - concoct a plot to trick Danaher into consenting to the marriage. They lead Danaher to believe Sean is courting the widow Tillane, who will have nothing to do with Danaher until Mary Kate is married off and out of the house. Danaher agrees to the courtship when Thornton wins the local cross country race, claiming the Widow's bonnet as his trophy. The Thornton/Danaher courtship quickly skips a few months of steps and soon turns into a wedding, but Squire Danaher, furious upon learning (at the reception) that he has been duped, reneges on Mary Kate's promised dowry of 350 pounds (Irish Currency). The money is a trifle to Sean Thornton, who has learned for himself that money isn't worth fighting for, and refuses to "shame" himself by begging for it. Mary Kate perceives Sean's lack of action as cowardice, and refuses her new groom his marital privileges. Tension builds in Innisfree, a highly sporting community, as the townspeople hope for a fight between Thornton and Danaher. However, Thornton refuses to fight. He suffers the guilt of a terrible secret concerning his last prize fight, which only the Reverend Playfair knows. As tensions grow, Father Lonergan counsels Mary Kate about her duties as a married woman, as Reverend Playfair councils Sean about what the dowry means to his wife. Although Mary Kate acquiesces, she feels that the dowerless marriage is improper and leaves Sean. To Sean, this is the last straw. He goes to the train station, literally drags his wife back to Squire Danaher's farm, collecting a very large crowd along the way, as the neighboring towns realize that Sean is about to confront Will Danaher and demands Mary Kate's dowry. Danaher refuses to pay the dowry, so Sean calls off the marriage - claiming that the dowry is their custom, not his. Shamed in front of the whole county, Danaher gives up the dowry (350 pounds cash). To further prove a point Sean stalks over to the nearby threshing furnace, where Mary Kate open the door for Sean to throw the money into the fire. This infuriates Danaher and he takes a swing at Sean, who defends himself. Mary Kate sees that her husband is willing to fight and heads home to cook dinner. For the rest of nearby residents of Innesfree, farmhands, the train engineers and passengers who've stayed for the event, the long awaited fight breaks out - starting at Danaher's farm and heading into Innesfree. During this Sean learns Danaher is, indeed, a worthy opponent. Many a side bets are laid - including Reverend Playfair, the visiting Bishop, and the local constabulary. By the end, the two men respect each other and have become fast (if drunken) friends. After the fight, the town gathers together to also help save Reverend Playfair's job and Will Danaher starts formally courting the Widow Tellane.