In New York City, a performance by noted violinist Paul Boray is cancelled. Something has happened that has brought Boray to rock bottom emotionally. At his apartment, he seems to be about to give up on his career; his manager Frederic Bauer is angry that Paul has misunderstood what performing would be like and admonishes him for thinking that music could no longer be part of his life. Paul's more sympathetic friend and accompanist Sid Jeffers asks Bauer to leave, and Boray says to Jeffers that he (Boray) always has wanted to do the right thing, but always has been "on the outside, looking in," and cannot "get back to that happy kid" he once was. In the past, we see young Paul choosing a birthday present in a variety store. He rejects his father's suggestions and wants a violin; his father rejects this, partly because the violin is costly but mostly because he believes it's just a passing fancy on his son's part. Esther, his mother, supportive at this stage, buys the $8 violin for the boy. A transition from his faltering first steps to being a gifted young violinist follows. In 1930, he overhears his family expressing frustration about their finances and how he is not bringing in any income. His father is dismissive of Paul's chances for success, and his brother, Phil, is extremely negative concerning his own possibilities for finding any job at all. Paul resolves to go out on his own so as not to be dependent on his family or take advantage of them. He finds a job with a locally broadcast orchestra in which Jeffers is the pianist. At a party, Paul meets the hostess, Helen Wright, a patroness in a loveless marriage to an ineffectual, aging third husband, Victor. Helen is a self-centered, adulterous woman who uses men as sexual playthings and is initially baffled by the strong-willed and independent Boray. She is rude to him during the party, but the next day, she sends him a gold cigarette case and a note of apology. "Papa" Boray is impressed, but Esther is suspicious. At first, Helen seems interested only in Boray's talent rather than in him as a person, though he is quick to press her on this issue. He gains a manager, Bauer, from her connections, and is now in love with her. On the beach, near the Wrights' Long Island home, he reaches out to Helen after a swim, but she runs away; later in the evening, she falls off a horse; as he tries to aid her, she resists, not wanting to be touched. He kisses her, and she tells him to leave her alone, although she clearly is drawn to him and makes no effort to run away. Shortly, everything is different. As they lie at the ocean, Helen warns him he might be sorry that love was invented, but admits she cannot fight him any longer, and that she is in love with him. Waiting at home, Esther confronts him, pointing out that he has missed a date with Gina, also a musician and his long-time sweetheart. Esther does not believe Paul's denials that he has any interest in Helen. She warns him to be careful and to think about his future. After Paul's debut concert, Esther hears Victor's sneering opinion of Paul as a "savage". After a several month tour across America, Paul has lunch with Gina. Sid arrives with Helen, who is immediately jealous and flees. Paul follows her, and they end up at Teddy's Bar. Helen makes a scene by smashing her drink against a wall, then she and Paul go to her home; she expresses anger at being neglected and begs him to let him into life. Paul points out that she's married; Helen shrugs this off, "they are both old enough to do as they choose." He kisses her. At his new apartment with numerous photographs of Helen, he confesses his love for her to his mother. They argue, and his mother slaps him. Disquieted by rumors he has heard, Victor asks Helen for a divorce. Suspicious of her real intentions, he asks her if she really can change and be happy with Paul; Helen insists this is the first time she has known real love. At a rehearsal, Paul is given a note from Helen claiming good news and asking to see him immediately. He crumples the note and continues with the rehearsal of the
Carmen Fantasie (adapted for the film by
Franz Waxman from
Bizet's
Carmen). At Teddy's Bar, Helen becomes increasingly drunk, and she is unable to tolerate the house pianist's performance of "
Embraceable You". Paul arrives to take her home. He repeatedly tells her he wants to marry her but she tries to dissuade him, even as she declares how much she loves him. She goes to visit Paul's mother to persuade her that in spite of the "type of woman she is," she really loves him. Esther does not believe Helen's professed good intentions and demands she leave Paul alone. Neither Helen nor Esther attend Boray's next concert where he plays his transcription of Wagner's
Liebestod. Helen listens to him on the radio.{{cite book|editor1-last= Joe |editor1-first= Jeongwon |editor2-last= Gilman |editor2-first= Sander L. |editor2-link= Sander Gilman |title= Wagner and Cinema |date= 2010-02-26 |publisher=
Indiana University Press |pages= 170–171 |isbn= 9780253221636 Returning to the film's opening scene, Paul asks Jeffers to tell Bauer not to worry; he is not running away. The closing scene shows Paul walking on the street toward his family's grocery store. ==Cast==