In this film adaptation of a Tennessee Williams play, Alva (Natalie Wood) is a radiant Southern belle who clashes with her oppressive mother, Hazel (Kate Reid). Hazel is trying to force Alva to take an affluent husband, but the young woman has eyes for Owen Legate (Robert Redford), a handsome city slicker visiting their tiny Mississippi town. Hazel disapproves of Owen and forces him to stop seeing her daughter. In an act of revenge, Alva takes up with her mother's beau, J.J. (Charles Bronson).