Set in an English village, the story follows the simple lives of two brothers, Robert and James Martin, and the woman they both love, Kate Richards.
Older brother Robert (Herbert Langley, in his film debut) is a rugged bloke who runs a farm and shares a small cottage with his brother Jimmy (Olaf Hytten), who's a bit of a dreamer. It's well known in the cottage and in the village that Robert has his eye on young Kate (Lillian Hall-Davis), and so he announces their wedding.
But before they can be married, Robert falls from a ladder and becomes paralyzed. As he lies in bed as the seasons change, his personality changes and he becomes bitter and angry. When he learns that Jimmy and Kate have secretly set a date to be married, he spews evil curses on the couple and the village vicar (Bernard Vaughan) who's been in on the plot.
Time passes and Kate gets pregnant, but Robert refuses to take back his curses. When she enters a difficult labor with the birth, on a black night streaked by lightning, Jimmy pleads with his older brother to lift the curse before it's too late.
First-time director Graham Cutts does well with the simple story, and the village location is beautiful. Langley, a famous opera singer of the day, does quite well as the brooding Robert. and Hytten and Hall-Davis (she reminded me of Viola Dana) are fine. The film was not a success in its day, but its a fine rural drama.
