Description
Self-made millionaire
research chemist Ken
Jorgenson, a former
lifeguard at the
exclusive summer
community on Pine
Island, returns there
twenty years later as a
guest with his wife
Helen and daughter
Molly. Ken reserves
rooms at the home of
jaded alcoholic Bart
Hunter, who has lost
the fortune built by
his father. Bart has
turned his mansion into
an inn and thinks that
Ken, who is a Swedish
immigrant's son, is
coming to gloat about
their respective
reversal of fortunes.
Although Bart wants to
refuse the Jorgensons
the reservation, his
wife Sylvia insists
that they are too much
in debt to turn down
paying customers. The
Jorgensons arrive on
the island by chartered
yacht, a pretense
insisted upon by Helen,
who is obsessed with
appearances and status.
An acrimonious woman
who no longer sleeps
with Ken, Helen tries
to repress teenaged
Molly's budding
sexuality and has
burdened the family
with her excessive
bigotry, making it
difficult for the
family to settle
anywhere. At dinner,
the boorish Bart tries
to titillate Helen by
describing his gardens
as an "aphrodisiac." To
smooth over Helen's
obvious indignation,
Sylvia explains that
the island has a
history of summer
romances. After dinner,
the Hunters' son Johnny
takes Molly on a
moonlit tour of the
gardens, where she
explains how she took
kissing lessons from a
boy at her high school.
When she kisses Johnny
goodnight, the nosy
groundskeeper, Todd
Hasper, sees them and
reports to Helen, who
then blames Ken's
Swedish genes for her
daughter's interest in
sex. Although Ken
accuses Helen of
suffocating Molly's
"natural instincts,"
Helen scolds Molly and
tells her that "wanting
a man is cheap." Molly
has a heart-to-heart
talk with Ken, asking
him why he married a
woman who does not love
either of them. Ken
says they married out
of loneliness and
admits he once loved
someone, but had
nothing to offer her.
He tells Molly that the
sole reason for
existence is to love
and be loved. He is
sorry that Helen does
not know how to love
and that he could not
teach her. One rainy
day, Bart's godmother,
Mrs. Hamilton Hamble,
complains to Sylvia
about the leak in her
water closet. When
Sylvia says she has
called the mainland for
a plumber, Mrs. Hamble,
acknowledging Bart's
uselessness, asks Ken
to go into the attic
and check it. As he and
Sylvia climb the attic
stairs, Sylvia
confesses that she has
delayed calling a
professional, because
Bart fears the roof has
a structural problem
that might result in
the building being
condemned. After
determining that the
roof is sound, Ken asks
why she has been
avoiding him. Twenty
years ago, they had
been lovers, but
Sylvia's mother had
arranged her marriage
with the then-wealthy
Bart. Ken says he got
married a week after
seeing Sylvia's wedding
picture in the
newspaper. Both admit
to living a "half-life"
without love, which
they have maintained
for the sake of their
children, and realize
they are still in love
with each other, but do
not want to hurt
others. When they go
downstairs, Mrs. Hamble
warns Sylvia that she
could hear their entire
conversation through
the circulation vents
in her room. Recalling
how Bart was
"plastered" at his own
wedding, Mrs. Hamble
notes that he has
rarely been sober and
suggests "straight
talk." She lays out
Sylvia's options:
divorce, a well-planned
and discreet affair, or
an unplanned, careless
affair that courts
gossip. At two in the
morning, Sylvia and Ken
meet in the boathouse.
Fearing they could lose
their children, neither
wants to risk divorce,
and so they concede
that at least they will
have this summer
together. When they
part before sunrise,
they do not realize
that Todd has
discovered their tryst.
Soon after, Helen,
pleased to receive
damning reports about
Ken from Todd, calls
her scheming mother.
Together they
strategize how to trap
Ken in the act of
infidelity, so that
Helen can divorce him
and receive a big
settlement. When Johnny
and Molly go sailing
one day, bad weather
capsizes their boat,
stranding them on an
uninhabited island.
After they are rescued,
Helen calls a doctor to
examine Molly for signs
of lost virginity,
despite the girl's
protestation of
innocence. Afterward,
Molly runs away,
causing Johnny to
threaten Helen, who
complains to the
police. When a mainland
policeman checks into
Molly's disappearance
and Helen's complaint,
Ken, who has just
returned from a short
business trip, sides
with Johnny.
Vindictively, Helen
blurts out that Ken and
Sylvia are sleeping
together. Seeing
Johnny's pain and
shock, Sylvia accuses
Helen of trying to
destroy the children,
and Bart
unsympathetically
orders Helen to leave
the island immediately.
To Sylvia, Bart admits
that he has known about
her love for Ken for
twenty years, but was
"fascinated" by her
"front" as wife and
mother. Although he is
willing to continue
their marriage, she
wants to end it. Molly
is soon found, and
after both couples
divorce, Helen slanders
Ken and Sylvia, and her
accusations are
repeated in the
newspapers. Because of
the scandal, the
respective divorce
settlements award the
children to Helen and
Bart, who both send
their children to
exclusive boarding
schools. Embarrassed by
the scandal and hating
their parents, Johnny
and Molly feel alone
against the world and
write to each other.
Helen finds and reads
Johnny's letters and
warns Molly that there
is "bad blood" in the
son of a "drunkard and
a harlot." Throwing the
letters into the fire,
Molly accuses Helen of
making the only thing
she has "to live for"
into something "dirty."
Although strictly
forbidden to see each
other, Molly and Johnny
arrange to meet
secretly at a church
during Christmas break.
When they kiss in
greeting, Molly is
spotted by a gossipy
friend and her mother,
who reports back to
Helen. Later, Helen
slaps Molly, knocking
over their Christmas
tree, thus alienating
her daughter. When Ken
and Sylvia marry, they
are disappointed that
the children do not
attend. Ken visits
Molly at her dormitory,
inviting her to visit
their beachside house
during spring break,
pleading that they need
each other. Helen tries
to block the court
order allowing Ken to
see Molly one month a
year, but her lawyer
warns her that Ken
would then be able to
stop paying her
alimony. When Molly
comes to visit Ken at
spring break, and
Johnny arrives a few
days later, the young
people shun their
parents and spend their
time in beach
hideaways. One night,
they tell Ken and
Sylvia they are going
to see the movie King
Kong , but instead,
make love in an
oceanside lookout. When
they return near
daybreak, Ken and
Sylvia discuss ways to
talk to them about the
dangers of love,
without destroying the
beauty of it. The next
morning, when Ken tries
to caution Molly, she
bristles at his
meddling. Weeks later,
Molly calls Johnny to
say she is pregnant. He
hitchhikes from school
to be with her and they
pawn her fur coat, a
gift from Ken, for
money to travel to Pine
Island. Although Johnny
expects his father to
be "open-minded" enough
to give them permission
to marry, Bart,
suffering from ulcers
and alcoholism, says
they are too young.
After the Coast Guard
takes Bart to a Boston
naval hospital, he
calls Helen and the
police. Molly and
Johnny ask a justice of
the peace to marry
them, but he refuses,
because they cannot
prove they are of age.
Meanwhile, Helen calls
Ken to say that Bart
wants to bring charges
against them in
juvenile court until
they "cool off." Having
nowhere else to go,
Molly and Johnny ask
for help from Ken and
Sylvia, who give their
support. Later,
newlyweds Molly and
Johnny return to Pine
Island to live.
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