Set in the fictitious beachfront township of Te Parenga on Auckland's North Shore in the 1930s, the main character is a nameless boy of about 12 (called Geoff in the film), based on the young Mason and a man from his childhood.
The play is in four parts: In the first half the boy spies on an abortive riot by his unemployed neighbours, and sees them and the local policeman in a new light.
Firpo wants to run in the Olympic Games and challenges local youths to a race on the beach, which he loses disastrously.
An earlier version of the play was serialised in 1949 as a novella over two parts in literary journal Landfall under the title "Summer's End".
Helen Martin says that the film keeps to the spirit of the play, although Mune chose to leave out the Depression aspects (e.g. the 1932 Queen Street riots) and concentrate on the Geoff and Firpo story.