The film follows the relationship between Fritha (
Jenny Agutter), an orphaned young girl, and Philip Rhayader (
Richard Harris), a lighthouse keeper in the fishing village Great Marsh in
Essex. The two meet as Rhayader helps Fritha care for a
snow goose she has found, despite his solitary lifestyle. The bird has been injured by hunters shooting at it. Set at the beginning of
World War II, the film uses the backdrop of the ongoing political events and battles throughout the narrative. As the goose heals, Fritha and the goose leave Rhayader. Rhayader once again becomes reclusive and confines himself to his lighthouse lodging. As
Germany invades Poland and the war begins, Rhayader applies to the
Observer Corps, but is denied due to his disabilities. Fritha and the goose eventually return to Rhayader, but Rhayader ventures out to help rescue the
British Expeditionary Force, trapped on the beaches of
Dunkirk. He is killed during the
Dunkirk evacuation, and the goose returns to Fritha, who is now grown up. She realises she had come to love Rhayader and is able to save one of the paintings he had made of her, as a child with the wounded goose, before the lighthouse and all other artwork are obliterated by a German airstrike. ==Cast==