In 1859, idealist John Wickliff Shawnessey, a resident of Raintree County, Indiana, is distracted from his high school sweetheart Nell Gaither by Susanna Drake, a rich New Orleans girl. This love triangle is further complicated by the American Civil War, and dark family history.

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
• Elizabeth Taylor
• Montgomery Clift
• Eva Marie Saint
• Nigel Patrick
• Lee Marvin
• Rod Taylor
• Agnes Moorehead
• Walter Abel