The film stars Rosalind Russell, Michael Redgrave, Raymond Massey, Katina Paxinou, Leo Genn and Kirk Douglas.

Though the complete version appears to be lost, the British cut, running 159 minutes, survives and is available on DVD[2] and has been shown on Turner Classic Movies.

[2] The film recorded a loss of $2,310,000, making it one of RKO's biggest financial failures.

Seth, an old family servant, awaits the return of various members of the wealthy New England Mannon family—especially the patriarch, Ezra, a general in the Union army.

Seth shows neighbors around the house, and the women recall a 20-year-old scandal: Ezra's brother, David Mannon, had to marry the French nurse girl who worked for their father, Abe.

Abe banished the couple, destroyed the family home and built a new one “out of pure hate.” In New York City, Ezra's daughter Lavinia follows her mother, Christine, to the residence of sea captain Adam Brant and is shocked to see them kiss.

Seth tell Lavinia that Adam is actually David's son, encouraging her to challenge the man.

When she does, Adam pours out the true story of how their grandfather coveted the girl and revenged himself on David.

But Adam's greatest hate is for Ezra, who did not reply to his mother’s plea for a loan when she was starving to death.

She paints an ugly picture of the future if they run away—and the difference in their ages grows more plain.

Ezra has a weak heart, and Christine tells Adam what poison to purchase in Boston.

She sends him away to reconcile with his family, confessing falsely to an affair with a native islander.

To the sound of Seth closing the shutters on all windows, she withdraws into the house, there to be punished by the “Mannon dead.” Writing for The New York Times, Bosley Crowther criticized the film as "tedious" and overlong, attributing its weakness to acting that was "more pretentious than inspired" and to the inadequacy of the screen as a medium for so "lengthily dialogic" a cycle of plays.