18岁的玛丽（凯瑟琳·赫本 Katharine Hepburn 饰）从法国回到了苏格兰，推翻了冒牌王后伊丽莎白（弗萝伦丝·艾尔德里吉 Florence Eldridge 饰）的统治。宫里的大臣们虽然表面效忠于玛丽王后，但背地里各怀鬼胎。
在大臣们的逼迫之下，玛丽王后借给了好色的达恩利王（道格拉斯·沃尔顿 Douglas Walton 饰），这段政治联姻让玛丽感到非常的痛苦。大臣们企图利用昏庸的达恩利王谋反，在阴谋得逞之后将其谋杀，紧接着又将他的死，嫁祸给了玛丽的第二任丈夫博斯威尔（弗雷德里克·马奇 Fredric March 饰）。就在玛丽因为政权焦头烂额之际，伊丽莎白提出想要帮她一把，可这个阴险的女人亦有着自己的算盘。

Hungarian countess Marya Zaleska seeks the aid of a noted psychiatrist, hoping to free herself of a mysterious evil influence.

Alice, the only relatively normal member of the eccentric Sycamore family, falls in love with Tony Kirby, but his wealthy banker father and snobbish mother strongly disapprove of the match. When the Kirbys are invited to dinner to become better acquainted with their future in-laws, things don't turn out the way Alice had hoped.

1944 film by George Cukor

1940 film by Mervyn LeRoy