Over-the-top 1950s queer melodramas that skirted the Hays Code and were adapted from plays

1951 film directed by Elia Kazan

A sensitive young man recalls his time in boarding school when the only person who seemed compassionate towards him was his housemaster's wife.

An alcoholic ex-football player drinks his days away, having failed to come to terms with his sexuality and his real feelings for his football buddy who died after an ambiguous accident. His wife is crucified by her desperation to make him desire her: but he resists the affections of his wife. His reunion with his father—who is dying of cancer—jogs a host of memories and revelations for both father and son.

The only son of wealthy widow Violet Venable dies while on vacation with his cousin Catherine. What the girl saw was so horrible that she went insane; now Mrs. Venable wants Catherine lobotomized to cover up the truth.