***SPOILERS*** Over the top and confusing movie about this paranoid schizophrenic architect Jeff Cohalan, Robert Young, who on top of all his other problems is suffering from an acute guilt complex that's leading the poor guy to self destruction. It gets so bad for Jeff that we first meet him in his garage as he attempted, unsuccessfully, to kill himself by carbon monoxide poisoning. What caused Jeff to self destruct is the death of his bride Vivian Sheppard, Shirley Ballard, who was killed in a car accident, on her wedding night, the year before with Jeff behind the wheel!
With his next door neighbor just arrived from Minnesota Ellen Foster, Besty Drake, taking an interest in Jeff's very pressing problems he, in his very fragile state of mind, mistakes her for his now dead bride or wife of about 4 hours Vivian and fall in love with her. Jeff's problems don't end with that with his horse dog and his prized blood red matador rosebush mysteriously dying on him making the guy more crazy then he already is. It's his blueprint for a new housing development on the Pacific Coast that really drove Jeff to the edge of sanity and into madness when it somehow having disappeared in the mail causing him to lose a multi million dollar contract that may well bankrupt him.
***SPOILERS*** We soon find out who's been causing Jeff's problems and it had to do with Vivian's death that the person held him responsible for. It was in fact Ellen who brought out an eye witness to Vivian's death that cleared this all up. That's when the person who was out to get and destroy Jeff completely lost it, by discovering his mistake, and took a pot shot at him in his utter frustration in knowing that all this time he was out to get the wrong man. It was non other then that dirty conniving and womanizing swine family friend Keith Ferris, John Sutton, who was having an affair with Vivian who drove her to her death. That's with the drunk and totally out of it Keith speeding at 80 mph, on a 35 mph speed limit country road, and crashing into a tree killing Vivian. It was the attempt of the heart-broken Jeff way in order for him to save Vivian's reputation, from a living in sin and man to man jumping tramp, as the good and sweet wife that everyone including Jeff's good friend her father Ben Sheppard, Henry O'Neill, thought that she was!
With his next door neighbor just arrived from Minnesota Ellen Foster, Besty Drake, taking an interest in Jeff's very pressing problems he, in his very fragile state of mind, mistakes her for his now dead bride or wife of about 4 hours Vivian and fall in love with her. Jeff's problems don't end with that with his horse dog and his prized blood red matador rosebush mysteriously dying on him making the guy more crazy then he already is. It's his blueprint for a new housing development on the Pacific Coast that really drove Jeff to the edge of sanity and into madness when it somehow having disappeared in the mail causing him to lose a multi million dollar contract that may well bankrupt him.
***SPOILERS*** We soon find out who's been causing Jeff's problems and it had to do with Vivian's death that the person held him responsible for. It was in fact Ellen who brought out an eye witness to Vivian's death that cleared this all up. That's when the person who was out to get and destroy Jeff completely lost it, by discovering his mistake, and took a pot shot at him in his utter frustration in knowing that all this time he was out to get the wrong man. It was non other then that dirty conniving and womanizing swine family friend Keith Ferris, John Sutton, who was having an affair with Vivian who drove her to her death. That's with the drunk and totally out of it Keith speeding at 80 mph, on a 35 mph speed limit country road, and crashing into a tree killing Vivian. It was the attempt of the heart-broken Jeff way in order for him to save Vivian's reputation, from a living in sin and man to man jumping tramp, as the good and sweet wife that everyone including Jeff's good friend her father Ben Sheppard, Henry O'Neill, thought that she was!