Plot

An upper-class widow falls in love with a much younger, down-to-earth nurseryman, much to the disapproval of her children and criticism of her country club peers.

Cary Scott is a widow with two grown children. She's been leading a quiet life since her husband died, socializing with a small circle of friends. Her children no longer live with her full-time but come home every weekend. She's not unhappy but also doesn't realize how bored she is. Her friend Sara Warren encourages her to get a television set to keep her company but she doesn't want that either. She develops a friendship with Ron Kirby who owns his own nursery and comes every spring and fall to trim her trees. Ron is much younger than Cary and their friendship soon turns to love. Her circle of friends are surprised that she is seeing such a younger man and she might be prepared to overlook that - Ron certainly doesn't care about the differences in their ages - but when her son and daughter vehemently object, she decides to sacrifice her own feelings for their happiness. Over time however, she realizes that her children will be spending less and less time with her as they pursue their own lives an re-evaluates her decision.—garykmcd

In the New England town of Stoningham, widow Cary Scott (Jane Wyman) is disappointed when her friend, Sara Warren (Agnes Moorehead), cancels a lunch date, and so invites her landscaper Ron Kirby (Rock Hudson) to share the meal. Immediately, Cary is drawn to Ron's strength and calm, but his youth and blue-collar social status make a romance unthinkable to her. That night, Cary's children, budding executive Ned (William Reynolds) and co-ed Kay (Gloria Talbott), come home and grant their approval to Cary's date with the sole local bachelor, staid hypochondriac Harvey (Conrad Nagel). Cary and Harvey go to the country club, where a new neighbor, Tom Allenby (Tol Avery), is already being targeted by a young blonde woman. After neighborhood gossip Mona Plash (Jacqueline deWit) criticizes Cary's red dress as inappropriate, the married Howard Hoffer (Donald Curtis) makes a pass at Cary, who deflects it. Harvey takes her home and there proposes to her, but Cary, who yearns for some of the passion she felt with her husband, demurs. Weeks later, Ron returns to prune the trees, and Cary is surprised at the disappointment she feels after he announces he is quitting in order to run his tree farm. When he asks her over to see his trees, she reluctantly agrees, only to be charmed by his rustic greenhouse cabin and down-to-earth manner. As she explores the abandoned mill next door, a bird frightens her and she falls into Ron's arms. Cary then turns to leave, but Ron stops her, and they share a passionate kiss. Weeks later, autumn progresses, and Cary, horrified by Sara's advice to buy a television set to keep her company, accepts Ron's invitation to a dinner party. It is held at the home of his friends, Alida (Virginia Grey) and Mick Anderson (Charles Drake), former suburbanites who, at Ron's urging, have turned to living on the land for fulfillment. Alida explains that they live by the words of Henry David Thoreau: "If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music he hears, however measured or far away." As the party begins and she dances with Ron, a joyful Cary realizes how much she admires Ron's lifestyle and strength of mind, and feels a twinge of jealousy when she sees Alida's pretty niece, Mary Ann, flirting with him. By winter, Ron and Cary are spending all their time together, and he surprises her by showing her how much of the mill he has remodeled. When he tells her that he has built the house for them to share, however, she insists that the union would be impossible, because her friends and children would not accept him. She begins to leave, but breaks down crying, and soon after they declare their mutual love. Within days, Mona spies them together and spreads a rumor that they began their relationship before Cary's husband died. The faithful Sara suggests that Cary bring Ron to a party that weekend so their friends can meet him, but at the party, the local couples disdain Ron as "the gardener" and snub him. After Howard declares Cary a tease, tries to assault her, Ron slugs him, and the couple quickly leave. At home, Cary tells Ned and Kay that she is going to marry Ron, and although they were amenable to her relationship with Harvey, they are horrified to think she might marry "beneath" her and sell the family home. After Kay cries that her life has been ruined by the gossip and Ned threatens never to return home, Cary tells Ron they must wait to be married. He demands that she choose between her love for him and her need for social acceptance, and even though she is devastated, Cary leaves Ron. Weeks later, her friends and family have welcomed Cary back into their fold, but she remains despondent and suffers headaches. Soon, the kids are too busy to visit, and a lonely Cary is crushed when she sees Ron and Mary Ann together. At Christmas, Kay shows off her engagement ring and Ned announces that he is moving to Paris and wants to sell the family house. When Cary sees their gift, a TV set, she breaks down, realizing that her rejection of Ron was pointless, and her future holds only loneliness and boredom. The next day, she visits Dr. Dan Hennessy, who opines that her headaches are caused by depression, and that she should marry Ron. Although she goes to Ron's, she hesitates at the door and returns to her car. Ron, who has been hunting, spots her from atop a hill and, in his rush to stop her from leaving, falls off a cliff and suffers a concussion. That night, Alida informs Cary that Ron is unconscious, and they race to his cabin, where Cary admires the beautiful home Ron has built and anguishes over why it has taken her so long to discover her true values. When Ron finally wakes the next morning, he is delighted to see Cary, who assures him that she has finally come home.—Will Gilbert

Cary Scott is a prosperous suburban New England widow with two college-aged children. Ron Kirby is a nurseryman and gardener. Cary and Ron meet when he's pruning trees in her yard. She becomes intrigued by his free spirit and his romantic life. He falls for her as well and wants to be married. Cary is afraid of the social consequences of marriage to Ron, and she also fears her children's disapproval. Cary is not only older than Ron but is also wealthier. Cary's friends and children are snobbish and socially conscious. Ron's friends are eccentric and fun-loving. Cary must choose between love and convention.—dj <johnson@bradley.edu>

Cary Scott is an affluent widow in the town of Stoningham, in suburban New England, whose social life revolves around the weekend visits of her college-age son and daughter, her best friend's country-club activities, and a few men vying for her affection. Feeling stuck in a rut, she becomes interested in Ron Kirby, her arborist. He is an intelligent, down-to-earth, and respectful, yet passionate, younger man, and she discovers he is content with his simple life outside the materialistic society in which they live. Ron introduces Cary to his friends, who seem to have no need for wealth or status, and their exuberance provides a welcome contrast to her staid existence.

Ron and Cary fall in love, and Ron proposes. Cary accepts, but she has concerns about the viability of their relationship, due to their different ages, classes, and lifestyles. These concerns are magnified when she tells her children and friends about the engagement and is met with a solid wall of disapproval, and, eventually, she breaks up with Ron. Particularly influential in her change of mind are her children's protestations against Cary's plan to sell the family home and move to Ron's tree nursery, as they will not want to visit her there.

After spending most of the Christmas season alone, Cary misses her life with Ron, but she thinks she has missed her opportunity for happiness because she mistakenly believes Ron is seeing another woman. On Christmas, her daughter announces she will be getting married soon and her son says that, since he is likely going to study abroad and then work overseas, they should start thinking about selling their house, which is too big for just Cary. She is overwhelmed by how pointless her sacrifice was, and her spirits are not lifted when her children give her a television set to fill her empty life.

Cary goes to see a doctor about recurrent headaches she has started having, and he suggests they are being caused by her body punishing her for ending her relationship with Ron. Leaving the appointment, she runs into one of Ron's friends, and in the course of their conversation she learns that Ron is still single. She goes to his property, but then changes her mind and leaves. Ron sees her from a precipice and excitedly, though unsuccessfully, tries to get her attention. The ground collapses out from under him, and he falls off the cliff.

That night, Ron's friend tells Cary about the accident, and she hurries over to his house. She decides she no longer wants to allow other people to dictate how she lives her life and settles in to nurse Ron back to health. When Ron regains consciousness, Cary tells him that she has come home.