Montgomery Clift

In Reno, Nevada, Roslyn Tabor (Marilyn Monroe), 30-year-old beautiful woman files for a quickie six-week residency divorce from her inattentive husband, Raymond (Kevin McCarthy). Roslyn says that is she is going to be alone; she wants to be by herself. Raymond had gifted a car to Roslyn as part of the divorce settlement, which she tries to sell with the help of her landlady Isabelle. The car was broken down and a tow truck service was called to repair it and give an estimate on the price. The person who arrived was Guido, who was smitten with Roslyn. Afterward, Isabelle takes her to a cocktail lounge at Harrah's for drinks. Roslyn loves animals and is always kind to them. She is a very sensitive woman, emotionally. Rosyln meets aging cowboy Gay Langland (Clark Gable). Guido (Eli Wallach) and Gay invite Roslyn and her friend Isabelle Steers (Thelma Ritter) to Guido's place in the country to help her forget about the divorce. Guido is a tow truck driver and Gay's best friend. The friendly Guido tells Roslyn and Isabelle about his unfinished house in the country. Roslyn and Isabelle follow Gay and Guido in Roslyn's car out to countryside. Isabelle tells Roslyn not to believe anything that a cowboy says as she is too believing. They arrive at the half-finished house Guido built for his wife, who had died during childbirth. They drink and dance. Roslyn has too much to drink, so Gay drives her home. Eventually, the two move into Guido's half-finished house and start to work on it. One day after breakfast, Gay tells Roslyn how he wishes he were more of a father to his own children, whom he has not seen for some years. Later that afternoon, Roslyn and Gay have a fight when he decides to kill a rabbit that is eating from the vegetable garden they have planted. When Guido and Isabelle show up, Gay suggests rounding up wild mustangs to sell. They go to a local rodeo in Dayton, NV to hire a third man for the job. Along the way, they meet Perce Howland (Montgomery Clift), a friend of Gay's who is on his way to the rodeo to compete. Gay offers to pay for the broke Perce's $10.00 entry fee if he helps them with the mustangs afterward. In a bar Roslyn wins $145 on hitting a Paddle ball continually, she later gives some of the money to the church Lady. Guido, Perce, Roslyn and Gaylord go to a bar and nearly get into a fistfight when a drunk spanks Roslyn's bottom. Outside the bar, Isabelle sees her ex-husband Charles (Philip Mitchell) and his wife of 19 years Clara, she decides to invite them to her home instead of going in a mustang with Roslyn and the others. At the rodeo, Roslyn becomes upset when Guido tells her how the horses are made to buck with an irritating flank strap. She declares that all rodeos should be banned. Later, after Perce is thrown by a horse, Roslyn begs him to go to a hospital, but he insists on riding a bull. He gets thrown again, resulting in a head injury. Later, after Roslyn dances with Perce, he passes out in a back alley. When he regains consciousness, he sees her crying over him. He says that he never had anyone cry for him before and that he wished he had a friend to talk to. He tells her how his mother changed after his father died. She gave his stepfather the ranch his father wanted to leave to Perce. A drunken Gay then fetches Roslyn, telling her that he wants her to meet his kids, whom he unexpectedly ran into. But Gay causes a public scene when he discovers his children have not waited around. Later on, during the drive home, a drunken Guido asks if Roslyn has left Gay and offers to take his place. Back at Guido's house, Perce comes to and nearly tears his bandages off, forgetting about his recent injury. Roslyn puts him to bed. She then sits down with Gay. He asks her if a woman like her would ever want to have a child with him. She avoids the issue, and Gay goes to bed. The next day, Gay, Guido and Perce prepare to go after the mustangs. Roslyn reluctantly tags along. After they catch a stallion and four mares, she screams that she hates the men when she learns that the mustangs will be sold for dog food. She then tells Gay she did not know she was falling in love with a killer. He tells her that he did things for her that he never did for any other woman, such as making the house a home and planting the garden. She begs Gay to release the horses. He considers doing it, but when she offers to pay $200, it angers him. Guido tells Roslyn that he would let them go if she would leave Gay for him. She rebuffs him coldly. Perce also asks her if she wants him to set the horses free, but she declines because she thinks it would only start a fight. He frees the stallion anyway. After Gay chases down and subdues the horse all by himself, he lets it go and says he just did not want anybody making up his mind for him. They get into Gay's truck. As they're driving Roslyn tells Gay: "I'll leave tomorrow, OK". The truck stops to pick up Gay's dog. Roslyn gets out and Gay, his heart melting watches as Roslyn joyfully removes the tether from the dog. Roslyn gets into the truck and Gay says: "I bless you girl" He and Roslyn drive off under the starry night sky.

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 Quebec, in the sanctuary of his church late one night, Father Michael Logan finds Otto Keller, the German refugee who is employed as the rectory handyman. After asking Logan to hear his confession, the distressed Keller proceeds to tell how he killed a lawyer, Vilette, while trying to rob him. Later, Keller tells his wife Alma, who also works at the rectory, that Logan is barred from reporting the crime by the seal of the confessional. The next day, Keller proceeds to the Vilette mansion, where he is employed one day a week as gardener, and after returning the stolen money, alerts the police of Vilette's murder. The troubled Logan also appears at Vilete's, saying that he has an appointment, and is seen whispering to a woman on the street. Later, Inspector Larreau, who is in charge of the investigation, interviews two schoolgirls, who saw a priest leaving Vilette's house between 11:00 and 11:30 p.m. Suspicious of Logan, Larreau asks him to come to the station. Meanwhile, the anxious Keller hides the bloody cassock he wore on the night of the murder in Logan's room. At the station, Larreau questions Logan about his appointment with Vilette and the woman with whom he was seen, but Logan refuses to answer or provide an alibi for the night of the murder. Feeling certain that Logan is the killer, Larreau calls the Crown prosecutor, Willie Robertson, who is socializing with a member of Parliament, Pierre Grandfort and his wife Ruth, unaware that she was the woman outside Vilette's. The next day, Ruth secretly meets Logan on a ferry and tells him to admit to the police that they were together on the night of the murder, but Logan refuses, as he wants to protect her. However, Murphy, one of Larreau's men, sees them together and reports their meeting to Larreau. Reluctantly, Robertson asks Ruth to visit the station. There, with Larreau, Robertson, Pierre and Logan present, Ruth says she is being blackmailed and that she met with Logan on the night of the murder between nine and eleven o'clock to ask his advice. Although both Pierre and Logan try to protect her, Larreau presses for details. Believing the truth will prove Logan's innocence, Ruth tells a story that explains how she and Logan, who had been childhood sweethearts, were also in love as young adults: When war breaks out, Logan, always serious and noble, volunteers for military service and after a while, Ruth no longer hears from him. She eventually marries Pierre, but after the war, meets again with Logan. Without telling him she is married, she spends a day on an island talking to him. When a storm suddenly hits, they miss the last ferry out and take cover in a nearby summer house, where they spend a chaste night together. The next morning, Vilette, the owner of the house, spots them and recognizes Ruth. Afterward, she sees neither Logan nor Vilette. Five years later, Vilette shows up at Logan's ordination and continues to appear to Ruth in unlikely places. Later, Vilette threatens to blackmail her. Fearing scandal for both Pierre and Logan, Ruth meets with Logan to get his advice without telling Pierre. She and Logan plan to meet in front of Vilette's house the following morning, unaware that Vilette has been murdered. Back in the present, Robertson sends Logan and the Grandforts home, as Ruth has provided an alibi for Logan. However, Larreau tells Robertson that the autopsy report has placed Vilette's time of death after 11:30 p.m., which would have given Logan time to kill Vilette after meeting with Ruth, and that Ruth's testimony has suggested a motive for the killing. The next day, Keller taunts Logan about his vows, which require silence, but after seeing the dark look in Logan's eyes, he loads and pockets a gun. When Murphy arrives to see Logan, Keller embroiders a story about how Logan left in distress, which suggests that Logan is evading the police, but then Logan later shows up voluntarily in Larreau's office and is arrested. Meanwhile, the bloody cassock is found in a trunk during a search of Logan's room. Later, at the trial, as Alma watches, Keller testifies that Logan was in great distress on the night of the murder. Then Ruth's story is twisted by the prosecuting Robertson to insinuate an ongoing affair with Logan. In his testimony, Logan still does not reveal what he knows, nor does he implicate Keller when the cassock is shown as evidence. Although the jury acquits Logan for insufficient evidence, both judge and jury publicly express their suspicions. Logan is then free to go, but the disapproving mob almost crushes him. Seeing this, Alma tries to tell a policeman that Logan is innocent, but the panicked Keller kills her. Larreau, Logan and several policemen follow Keller to the Chateau Frontenac, and corner him in the ballroom. Believing that Logan has finally revealed the truth, Keller accuses him of hypocrisy by breaking his vow and thus, incriminates himself. When Logan moves closer to talk, Keller starts to shoot, but the police shoot Keller. As he dies, Keller asks for forgiveness, and Logan absolves him.

In 1941 Hawaii, Private Robert E. Lee Prewitt (Montgomery Clift) is transferred from the Bugle Corps at Fort Shafter (giving up his corporal stripes) to a rifle outfit, Company "G," at Schofield Barracks on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. When Captain Dana "Dynamite" Holmes (Philip Ober) learns of his reputation as a talented boxer, he recommends that Prewitt join the regimental boxing club that he heads, and promises that Prewitt will be promoted to corporal or even sergeant, if he helps win the boxing trophy on December 15. For reasons unknown to the regiment Prewitt adamantly refuses. Holmes retaliates by making army life as miserable as possible for Prewitt hoping he will agree to box. Unable to break Prewitt, Holmes orders First Sergeant Milton Warden (Burt Lancaster) to prepare court martial papers. Warden, however, knowing of Holmes' unfair treatment and realizing Prewitt is a thirty-year soldier (career soldier), suggests that he try to entice Prewitt to change his mind by doubling up on company punishment. The other non-commissioned officers assist in the conspiracy with brutal hazing rituals. Prewitt is supported only by his friend, Private Angelo Maggio (Frank Sinatra). Meanwhile, behind his commander's back, Warden begins an affair with Holmes' neglected wife Karen (Deborah Kerr). Sergeant Maylon Stark (George Reeves) has told Warden of Karen's many affairs with other soldiers at Fort Bliss, including his own. As their relationship develops, Warden asks Karen about her numerous affairs to test her sincerity with him. Karen relates that Holmes had been unfaithful to her most of their marriage. She lost a baby when Holmes came back from one affair drunk, and unable to assist her to the hospital. She then affirms her genuine love for Warden. Prewitt and Maggio spend their liberty time at the New Congress Club, a gentleman's club in downtown Honululu where Prewitt meets, and falls for, Lorene (Donna Reed), a local dancer and call girl. Prewitt confides to Lorene the reason he refuses to box for the company is that he blinded a close friend while sparring. Maggio encounters Sergeant 'Fatso' Judson (Ernest Borgnine), a crass and racist sergeant at the club. When Maggio complains that Judson's piano playing is interfering with his dancing, the two nearly come to blows. Maggio is told that Judson is the Sergeant of the Guard at the stockade. Later, at a tavern called "Choy's," located near the base, Judson sees Maggio holding a photograph of his family. Judson makes an inappropriate comment to Prewitt about Maggio's sister causing Maggio to smash a bar stool on Judson's head. Judson pulls a switchblade on Maggio, but Warden, sitting in a corner, intervenes to save Maggio by telling Judson that killing Maggio would "create two weeks of paperwork" for him. When the brutal Judson advances on Warden with the knife, Warden breaks a beer bottle in two and uses the jagged edge as a weapon. Judson retreats, throws down his knife and goes to the bar for a drink. However, he warns Maggio that sooner or later Maggio would end up in the stockade and he would be there waiting for him. A few days later, Karen tells Warden that if he became an officer, she could divorce Holmes and they could return to the States and marry. Warden is not keen on the idea because of his dislike of officers, but agrees to consider the matter. Prewitt manages a weekend pass, courtesy of Warden, and goes to meet Lorene who is too busy at the club to talk. However, she meets him later at a bar for a drink. He tells Lorene he loves the Army, and shows Lorene his prized possession, a bugle mouthpiece. He tells her, "I played taps last Armistice Day at Arlington National Cemetery. The President was there." Maggio then walks in drunk and in uniform, explaining that he was assigned to for guard duty that night, but deserted his post. Lorene encourages Prewitt to take Maggio back to the base. While Prewitt is calling for a taxi, Military Police arrive and arrest Maggio, and he is sentenced to six months in the stockade for desertion. Matters come to a head for Prewitt when Sergeant Galovitch picks a fight with Prewitt while on yard detail, and the two come to blows. At first, Galovitch repeatedly pummels Prewitt, who initially refuses to fight back, and then resorts to using only body blows. But as Galovitch and others watching continue taunting him, he begins boxing, hitting Galovitch in the face and nearly managing to knock him out before Holmes finally steps in and stops the fight. When Galovitch falsely accuses Prewitt of insubordination, Holmes is about to punish Prewitt again until the man in charge of the detail says that it was Galovitch, not Prewitt, who was spoiling for the fight. Instead of punishing Galovitch, Holmes abruptly lets him off the hook and disperses the crowd. The entire incident is witnessed by the base commander, who orders an investigation by the Inspector General. When Holmes' true intentions are revealed, the general orders a court-martial. When Holmes begs for an alternative, the commanding officer's aide suggests that Holmes resign his commission "for the good of the service" and leaves the Army, which the general accepts with dispatch. Holmes' replacement, Captain Ross, orders that Sergeant Galovitch be demoted to private and put in charge of the latrine. One evening, a few weeks later, Maggio manages to escape from the stockade and find Prewitt. He tells of the abuse he endured by Judson, then dies in Prewitt's arms. The next morning, Prewitt plays taps as tears stream down his cheeks. Seeking revenge, Prewitt tracks down Judson in town and invites him into a back alley to talk, then attacks him. The two fight with switchblades, Prewitt using the very same switchblade Judson had pulled on Maggio earlier. Prewitt kills Judson, but not before sustaining a serious stomach wound. Prewitt goes into hiding at Lorene's apartment. Despite Prewitt's AWOL status, his platoon sergeant carries him "present" for three days at Warden's direction. Lorene, whose real name is Alma, tends to Prewitt's wounds. On December 7, 1941, the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor. Enemy planes also attack nearby Wheeler Air Base as well as the barracks. Warden leads several of his men in battle by climbing to the roofs of the barracks and returns fire against strafing Japanese fighter planes, shooting down at least one of them. That evening, Prewitt, still weak from his unhealed wound, finds out about the attack over the radio, and attempts to return to camp under cover of darkness, despite protests from Lorene to wait until daylight. During the walk back to the barracks, Prewitt is spotted by several jittery sentries on the lookout for saboteurs. Instead of stopping and identifying himself to the sentries, Prewitt attempts to run and gets shot dead while running across a golf course, his body landing in a nearby sand trap. Warden arrives on the scene a few minutes later with military investigators and identifies the body. Warden laments Prewitt's stubbornness and states the irony that because of the attack, the December 15, 1941 boxing tournament has been canceled. Holmes' resignation results in Karen having to return to the States with him. When she finds out that Warden failed to apply for officer status, she realizes they will never be together. In the final scene, Lorene and Karen meet for the first (and only) time on a ship leaving for the mainland. Karen then tosses two leis into the water. She tells Lorene, "If the leis go to shore, a person will return to Hawaii. If the leis float out to sea, a person will never return." Lorene says she will never return to Hawaii, telling Karen that her fiance was an Army Air Corps pilot who was killed in a B-17 plane during the December 7th attack. Lorene quotes: "he was awarded the Silver Star, they sent it to his mother. She wrote me. She wanted me to have it. They are very fine people, Southern people. He was named after a general. Robert E. Lee Prewitt." Karen recognizes Prewitt's name from conversations with Warden and is aware that Lorene is lying about Prewitt's death, but she says nothing. The final shot shows Lorene holding Prewitt's treasured bugle mouth piece.

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 1851, Tom Dunson (John Wayne) and friend Nadine Groot (Walter Brennan), join a wagon train in St. Louis (or near St. Louis), headed for California. After three weeks, they approach north Texas, where the land looks good to Tom. He decides he wants to break away from the wagon train and go find a place to start a ranch of his own. The wagon master tries to order him to stay, then tries talking him out of it, all to no avail. Tom is also pretty handy with his fists and a gun, so there wouldnt be any forcing him. Along with Tom and Nadine on the trip to California is Fen (Colleen Gray), Toms love interest. He and Fen are basically engaged (in love, anyway) and she wants to come with Tom and Nadine to find a ranch. Tom wont hear of it, promising to send for her once hes settled in. She doesn't like the idea of having to wait, but promises to come. Before leaving, Tom gives Fen a bracelet that belonged to his mother. Tom and Nadine take off with their wagon, horse, one bull and two cows, and get maybe 10-15 miles from the wagon train, near the Red River, when they look back and see black smoke. Realizing that the wagon train has most likely been attacked by Indians, they know they cant get back in time to help, and that some of the Indians are likely to come looking for them soon enough anyway, so they set up in a defensive posture and wait. Sure enough, maybe 6-7 Indian braves show up and begin an attack with a fire arrow that hits Tom's and Nadine's wagon (but doesnt do much damage). Both Tom and Nadine are good shots and they kill most of the attackers right away. However, one of their cows was killed by the Indians and then Tom has to fight hand-to-hand. He kills one Indian as they fight and fall into the river. Tom notices the Indian he killed was wearing the bracelet hed given to Fey. Tom then sneaks out to kill the last one or two Indians of the group, who were still out there hiding. The next day, theres a young boy named Matt Garth (Mickey Kuhn) who comes strolling along leading a cow and talking to himself, like hes lost his mind. Tom slaps the kid to snap him out of his trance. The kid then pulls a hand gun and points it at Tom. Tom grabs the gun and takes it away, knocking the kid down. The kid is not crazy, but just play-acting. Tom tells him never to pull a gun on him again. The kid has spunk and tells Tom never to take his gun from him again. Tom turns to Nadine and says, hell do. Tom hands Matt's gun back to him and allows him to come with them. Apparently, the family or group Matt had been with was attacked by Indians too, so he had no one left. The three of them travel deep into Texas, stopping at the Rio Grande, where Tom pronounces himself the new owner of all the land visible north of the river. He also says that 10 years hence, hell have the biggest and best ranch in all of Texas, with plenty of beef to feed and nourish all the people around the area. He tells Garth and Groot that he will brand all the cattle in his future herd with a D double bar (the bars representing the banks of the Red River). Matt wants an M added to the brand, but Dunson says he'll have to earn it. Two Mexican men come riding up and introduce themselves as employees of Don Diego, the man who owns the land they are standing on. At that moment, Don Diego was at his ranch headquarters 400 miles south, in Mexico. Tom tells the two men to ride back and tell Don Diego that all the land north of the Rio Grande now belongs to him and hes taking it. One of the men says that just cant be and he goes for his gun. Tom outdraws him and shoots him dead. He tells the other man to take his friends horse and go back and tell Don Diego what happened. Tom told the guy that he would take care of burying the other man's body. Flash forward nearly 15 years later to find Tom, Nadine and a grown Matt (Montgomery Clift) having a discussion about Matts recent return to the ranch, and the major problem of there being no market in Texas for all of Toms thousands of cattle (thanks to the Civil War basically bankrupting everyone). The decision is that they will need to drive the cattle north instead, to Missouri, to sell them. Tom was going to make Nadine stay behind, as Nadine was getting too old to ride, but the trail cook had just quit, so Nadine got to go, as the cowboys would need a cook. Tom and Nadine had a funny exchange, right after Tom had told Nadine he had to stay behind. Nadine was talking to himself, complaining about the decision, while Tom was trying to talk to Matt. Tom finally turned to Nadine and asked him what he was saying and why didnt he have his new teeth in his mouth, because he couldnt understand his mumbling. Nadine responded that everyone else could understand him just fine and he was keeping his teeth in his pocket until he needed them for eating. Matt was overseeing the branding of the cattle, preparatory to the drive, and having the men turn loose any cows belonging to a rancher named Meeker (Davison Clark), or to Don Diego. Tom rides up and orders that no cattle be turned loose and that they all be branded with the D-Double Bar brand (his). Matt doesnt agree, but tells the men to go ahead and do as Tom says. About that time, Mr. Meeker rides up with some of his men, including a hired gun, and asks Tom for permission to look through the herd to cull out any of his cows. Tom denies permission, telling Meeker that hes branding all of the cows he has, regardless of any other brands they may already have on them. Things get pretty testy and Matt and Mr. Meekers gunfighter, Cherry Valance (John Ireland) exchange words. Matt has become very handy with a gun himself. Tom relents somewhat, in that he decides to offer Meeker $2/head for any of his cows that make it to Missouri and get sold. Meeker agrees. Cherry then decides hed like to work for Tom instead of Meeker and asks to be hired on. Tom hires him at $10/month, the going rate for a trail hand. Matt and Cherry are just itching to have a fight (preferably a gunfight), and Tom realizes its probably inevitable, but he forces them to get along for the time being. They do have an initial challenge contest, where they borrow each others guns and alternately shoot at a tin can, impressing each other with their respective skills. In the bunkhouse, theres a poker game the night before the drive starts. Quo (Chief Yowlachie) is sitting opposite Groot. Groot has a good hand, but when Quo bets one silver dollar, Groot is aghast. Thats equivalent to 3 days pay. He asks Matt to loan him a dollar, but Matt refuses. The rule of the game is that only whats on the table at the time can be used to bet with. So, Quo asks Groot whats in the small bag he has there on the table and Groot tells him it contains his false teeth. Quo says hell accept half interest in the teeth to cover the one dollar bet. Groot isn't happy about it, but he agrees. They show their cards. Quo has the better hand and demands the teeth. Groot wants to know how hes supposed to eat without his teeth and Quo tells him that come grub time, you get em. Dunson comes into the bunkhouse and tells everyone that its now or never as far as their decisions to go on the drive. He tells them that there will be no hard feelings for anyone who wants to stay behind, and promised them that theyd still have jobs on the ranch after the drive is over. He tells them that theyll be doing good to make 10 miles a day on the 1,000 mile drive, 15 miles if they are lucky. Theyll face bad weather, dust, Indians and border gangs (once they get close to Missouri). But, once a cowboy says hell go, hes expected to finish the drive, whatever happens. Dunson makes everyone going sign a piece of paper representing their word to stick it out. The next morning, breakfast was served at 4:30 and, with nearly 10,000 head of cattle grouped together, at 5 a.m., Dunson quietly told Matt to take 'em to Missouri. All the cowboys whooped and hollered as they started out. Quo holds Groot to the results of their bet, only loaning the false teeth back to Groot at mealtimes. Groot is not happy about that. He tells Quo that the teeth help him keep the dust out of his mouth. Quo tells him to keep his mouth shut then, and dust not get in. Groot complains that before the drive is over, hell probably eat enough land to get himself incorporated in the Union as the State of Groot. Quo still says no. Dunson isnt happy about the situation either, complaining that Groot mumbles and needs to have his teeth in to be understood. The men start talking about taking the cattle to Kansas instead of Missouri, as its closer and there are less hazards along the way. However, because no one has personal knowledge of a railway actually being in Abilene, KS (where rumor has it there was one), Dunson says to forget it. Dunson goes through 3-4 horses a day, so hes obviously very involved in the drive. The group is 30 days into the drive with no major issues. One cowboy remarks that he doesnt like that. It makes him nervous. He prefers a balance of things going well and having trouble, not just one or the other. The trouble part does come, and it starts as a result of Bunk Kenneally (Ivan Parry) continuing to get into the supply of sugar (he dips his fingers into the sack whenever he can, which gets him in trouble with Groot). Everyone has been on their best behavior as far as being quiet, because the cattle are on edge. They are tired and there are coyotes milling about. Everyone is worried that the cows will stampede if something spooks them. So, when Bunk clumsily knocks over some of the cook pots as hes getting into the sugar, thats enough noise to start a stampede. One of the cowboys prefers to wear a bowler hat. He gets trapped behind a shrub in the middle of the stampede, so Matt and another fellow ride up and each grab an arm of this fellow and they carry him off to the side of the stampeding cows and let him down. After the cows are stopped and calmed down, it's noticed that one of the wranglers, Dan Latimer (Harry Carey Jr.) is missing. Latimer wore checkered pants and would talk about using the $100 he would be earning on the drive to buy a place to farm/ranch, and a pair of red shoes for his wife. A search begins and they find what's left of Latimer's distinctive checkered pants among a bunch of dead cattle. Dunson tells Matt to make sure the widow gets Dans money and whatever else. Matt replies, like a pair of red shoes? Dunson reads over Latimer's remains the next morning and as he puts the Bible back on the wagon, he goes over and picks up Groots' whip, at the same time calling out to Bunk: Bunk Kennally, you started all this! 400 cows dead and Latimer too. Stealing sugar like a little kid. Well, we whip kids to punish them for things like that. Dunson tells Teeler to strap Bunk to a wagon wheel. Before Teeler can do that, Bunk speaks up and acknowledges that he is remorseful about Latimer and the dead cows, but he tells Dunson he wont stand to be whipped. As he goes for his gun, hed likely have been shot dead by Dunson, but Matt draws first and shoots Bunk in the shoulder, saving his life. Dunson turns to Matt and says, you shot him, you take care of him! Matt provides Bunk with two horses and sends him back home. Cherry observes all this and tells Matt that while hes real fast with a gun, hes got a soft heart, and that will get him hurt some day. Matt says that could be, but not to count on it. 40 days out, with reduced rations (after one wagon was destroyed in the stampede), the men become increasingly restless. Tom reminds them that they all signed on to see it through, like it or not. A cowboy named Sutter (William Self) rides up, his head bandaged and barely able to talk (there was a rope burn around his neck), saying he had been riding with the Garwood herd (2,000 cows) when they were ambushed by about 100 bandits. Hearing that, Naylor, Fernandez and another hand tell Dunson theyve had enough (but not until right after theyd watched Dunson set his gun belt down as he was preparing to go get some water). Dunson tells them they cant go. They reach for their guns as Groot tosses a loaded and cocked rifle to Dunson. Dunson's shots, in combination with those fired by Matt and Cherry, kill the three wranglers. Dunson orders the three buried, announcing that hell read over them in the morning. That prompts one of the cowboys to say: Plantin and readin, plantin and readin. Why, when youve killed a man, why try to read the Lord in as a partner in the job? Matt argues with Dunson over the need to confront and kill the three men. He and Groot both tell Dunson hes wrong to do such things. Groot then patches up a bullet wound on Dunsons lower left leg. That night, Teeler, Kelsey and Laredo are on watch, when they decide to take some ammunition and flour and ride out, headed back home. The next morning, Dunson sends Cherry and Buster to go get the three and bring them back, dead or alive. The herd arrives at the Red River. Matt wants to give everyone a rest and cross the river first thing in the morning. Dunson will have none of that, and orders the crossing to begin immediately. He finds a couple areas of quicksand in the river to be avoided then orders the crossing to start. The process continues into the night. Between 30-40 head are lost during the process. Dunson is limping badly and pulls heavily from a bottle of whiskey once he sits down to rest. Hes exhausted, refusing to sleep until Cherry gets back with the three cowboys who left. He wants to make sure no one else tries to leave. Hes sure once the three are returned and punished, no one else will leave. Cherry does come back, on the 4th day after he left, with two of the cowboys: Laredo and Teeler. Cherry said Kelsey chose not to return, so he had to shoot him. Dunson announces that he is going to hang the two. Matt tells him that he wont be doing that, and he will be the one to stop him. Dunson braces his right hand on a piece of wood to stand up and face Matt, but Matt shoots him in the hand. When Dunson tries to draw his gun, he isn't able to hold onto it and it falls to the ground. Dunson reaches down for it with his left hand and Buster shoots the gun away. Matt announces that hes taking over and will be taking the herd to Abilene. He says that Dunson will be left behind. Groot offers to stay with Dunson, but he tells Groot to go with the others. He then tells Matt that hell come after him and will kill him. Groot is later calculating how long before Dunson gets to another town, rounds up some new men, and catches up to them. For the next 2-3 weeks, everyone on the drive is nervous and jumpy, anticipating his return. One of the steers is found dead, filled with Apache arrows. Matt sends Buster and Cherry ahead 10 miles with rifles to scout and keep watch. Buster comes riding back all excited, with news that theres a wagon train about 18 miles ahead, the Donegal party, headed from New Orleans to Nevada, to set up a saloon for gambling, drinking and partying. He says there are dancing girls with the wagon train. Matt decides that the men need and deserve some distraction and decides to head the herd to the wagon train before continuing on to Abilene. As the herd approaches the wagon train, they hear shooting. The train is under attack by Apaches. Matt gives orders for the men to split into two groups and come at the Indians from the sides, while he and a few others ride down the middle. It takes some time to get all the men rounded up and ready, so Matt and the few others go ahead and ride straight to the wagons, jumping right into the middle of the circled wagons and helping fight the Indians who were circling around, yelping and shooting their arrows. Matt finds himself side by side with a very attractive woman who is firing a rifle (but not very well). Shes Tess Millay (Joanne Dru). He tells her to load and hell shoot. She perceives that hes angry about something and wants to know what. About that time, she takes an arrow to the right shoulder, pinning her to a wagon. Matt cuts the shaft so she is free from the wagon, but he has to finish the Indian fight before helping more. The rest of the men finally come charging down the hill and the men within the circle of wagons come charging out and the Apaches decide to hightail it. Matt returns to pull the arrow from Tesss shoulder, then he decides he needs to suck some poison out of the wound. She slaps him across the face for doing that, then passes out. Theres a big party that night, making use of the food, drinks, cards, and girls that are all available in the camp. Tess asks Groot to tell her all about Matt, because she "needs to know." She also wants to talk to Matt before they get back on the trail the next day. Groot goes and finds Matt (hes out in the evening fog, on watch) and tells Tess where he is. She goes out there and gets up close and starts talking to him. She tells him that he needs to talk to her, that talking about his concerns and fears is the way to deal with them. Matt doesnt need all that much convincing to talk, as she's a very soft and pretty girl that is very close to him. He opens up and they quickly get very comfortable with each other. Shed fallen in love with him immediately. He probably did too, but needed a bit of convincing that it would be ok to fall in love with a saloon girl. As its raining hard and there are worries about the level of the next river to be crossed. Matt decides they need to do it right away, even though its nighttime. Meanwhile, Dunson has gathered 8 new men and is on the chase. Nine days after the herd had left the wagon train, Dunson and his men come across the wagons. Tess immediately announces that shell "take care of Mr. Dunson." She considers shooting Dunson, as he sits in her tent talking to her, but he knows she has a pistol and is prepared to shoot her first if need be. It doesnt come to that. He notices shes wearing his mothers bracelet and asks her how she got it away from Matt. She sarcastically says she stole it, then admits she loves Matt and that he gave it to her. As they talk, Tess tells Dunson that she wanted to go with Matt on the drive, but he said no, it was too dangerous and tough. That reminded Dunson of the day when he turned down his womans request to go along with him. He was nevertheless bound and determined to go find and kill Matt, and tells Tess she cant say or do anything to change his mind. She keeps after him, though, and he acknowledges his disappointment in Matt, saying he was the son he never had and would stand to inherit his ranch if he hadnt betrayed him. Dunson takes a fresh look at Tess and offers her half of everything he owns in exchange for her bearing him a son. She says shell do it, if hell stop pursuing Matt. He says no, so she begs instead to be allowed to go with him. He says ok. Matts understandably stressed about whether they will find a railroad in Abilene, and the fact that Dunson is hot on his trail. Fortunately, they hear a train whistle in the distance and come across a train, about 12 miles from Abilene. The engineer is very thrilled to see the herd, as are the townspeople who come riding out to meet and greet them. They tell Matt to drive the herd right down Main Street so all the people can see (thats nearly impossible not to do anyway, as its a tiny town). Its August 14, 1865 and marks the time the first cattle drive on the Chisholm Trail is completed. In Abilene, Mr. Melville (Harry Carey Sr.) represents the Greenwood Trading Company of Illinois and offers immediately to buy the entire herd. Matt has no experience at selling cows, so hes hesitant to accept the $20/head offer. Mr. Melville then tells him to go out and find the best price he can for a lot of 500 cows and then hed match the price and still buy the whole herd. It ends up being $21/head. Matt signs the contract and receives a check for $50,000, with the balance to be paid once a final tally is arrived at. He makes sure all the cowboys get paid right away. Matt returns to his room at the Hotel Royale and is shocked to find Tess in there, all dressed in black. She apologizes for appearing as if shes in mourning. She tells him Dunson is camped outside town and will be coming to get him in the morning. It's likely that they get to know each other intimately that night. The next morning, everyone has gathered at the front of the hotel, waiting. Buster rushes in through the cows on his horse to announce that Dunson and his 10-12 men were riding in. Dunson, meanwhile, is telling his men to remember where they each stand in all this, which apparently is to hang well back and not interfere. Dunson dismounts on the far side of the railroad tracks and sets out with a very purposeful walk, through the cows and across the tracks. Cherry, realizing that Matt is not likely to draw and shoot it out with Dunson, confronts Dunson before he gets to Matt. They both draw and shoot, wounding each other. Cherry falls, but Dunson continues on. He gets close and tells Matt to draw, but Matt refuses. Dunson draws and empties his gun, shooting all around Matt, knocking his hat off and grazing his right cheek, drawing blood. He then walks up to Matt and wants to know what he has to do to make a man out of him. Dunson grabs and tosses away Matts gun. He reminds Matt that as a boy, he once told him never to try that again, but Matt doesn't react. Dunson then punches Matt in the face 2-3 times, knocking him down. He drags him back up, ready to hit some more, but Matt shocks him by punching him and knocking him down. They brawl until Tess fires a pistol into the air, stopping the action. She chews them out loudly for awhile, then decides maybe they should go ahead and pummel each other, and she turns away so they can continue. They don't start fighting again, however. Instead, they stand looking after Tess. Dunson tells Matt to marry that gal. Matt says, When are you going to stop telling people what to do? Dunson says, After one more thing. After we get back to Texas, Im going to make the brand the double bar D, with an additional name (he scrawls out an M in the dirt). You earned it!