After two failed marriages, a disillusioned woman returns to her hometown to start life anew.

Wealthy rancher Bick Benedict and dirt-poor cowboy Jett Rink both woo Leslie Lynnton, a beautiful young woman from Maryland who is new to Texas. She marries Benedict, but she is shocked by the racial bigotry of the White Texans against the local people of Mexican descent. Rink discovers oil on a small plot of land, and while he uses his vast, new wealth to buy all the land surrounding the Benedict ranch, the Benedict's disagreement over prejudice fuels conflict that runs across generations.

1951 film by Otto Preminger

Stanley Crane is working at his grocery when Mrs. Verber comes in with a badly bruised face. Stanley's wife Dorothy believes that Mr. Verber hits his wife, and is having affairs with other women. Back at home, the Cranes hear the Verbers having a violent argument in the apartment above theirs. The next day, when Mr. Verber is missing, and soon afterward a detective starts poking around the apartment building, the Cranes can't help suspecting the worst.