A small plane crashes in the mountains and everyone aboard is believed to be dead. Aerial photography reveals that one passenger, a 5 year old boy, has survived. News coverage of the event reveals that not only did the crash happen on the boy's birthday, but that he was adopted (and now orphaned). Three women (Eleanor Parker, Patricia Neal and Ruth Roman) who gave up babies for adoption exactly 5 years ago realize that he may be their son and travel to the accident site.
This admittedly far-fetched premise sets up a pretty compelling little melodrama as we learn each woman's back story in flashback. The three very different stories are fairly honest portrayals of the kinds of reasons that women have for having children outside of marriage, and while staying inside the confines of the production code, moralizing is kept to a minimum. Neal turns in the most compelling performance (and her story is the most interesting), but all three are good.
Wise's first film for a studio other than RKO is an interesting departure from the genre work he specialized in.
This admittedly far-fetched premise sets up a pretty compelling little melodrama as we learn each woman's back story in flashback. The three very different stories are fairly honest portrayals of the kinds of reasons that women have for having children outside of marriage, and while staying inside the confines of the production code, moralizing is kept to a minimum. Neal turns in the most compelling performance (and her story is the most interesting), but all three are good.
Wise's first film for a studio other than RKO is an interesting departure from the genre work he specialized in.