Speranza
Tom and Betsy Rath live in a rundown house in Westport, Connecticut, Long Island Sound, New England, around
1953 (1955 in the movie).
They have three television-addicted children (two
girls and a boy) and have money problems.
Tom is 33 years old, a Harvard
graduate.
He barely survived as an Army paratroop officer during World War II,
having fought in both the European and Pacific combat theaters, during which he
had an extramarital affair.
Tom has haunting flashbacks of the affair as well
as his combat experiences. He killed 17 men in combat. His stay-at-home wife
knows only that Tom is somehow "changed" since the war. She feels his job with a
Manhattan charitable organization pays too little, so she and a fellow train
commuter urge him to interview for a job at a New York-based television
network.
Tom lands a public relations job, working for Ralph Hopkins, the top man at the network, an empire-builder surrounded by politicking yes-men. Hopkins is to propose the establishment of national mental health services to a group of physicians and offer his own prestige and network toward that end. Tom must figure out how his boss can best present the proposal so that the learned doctors will rise in unison and appoint Hopkins to spearhead the campaign.
Hired on a six-month probationary basis, Tom reports to a humorless game-player who rejects five different drafts of the speech and ends up substituting one of his own. Hopkins is satisfied, but Tom persuades him that the approach is all wrong, that it misrepresents Hopkins' qualifications to head the campaign. Tom's approach is more sensible; Hopkins is impressed. Tom reminds Hopkins of his own son, who was killed in combat.
There are a number of subplots:
Tom lands a public relations job, working for Ralph Hopkins, the top man at the network, an empire-builder surrounded by politicking yes-men. Hopkins is to propose the establishment of national mental health services to a group of physicians and offer his own prestige and network toward that end. Tom must figure out how his boss can best present the proposal so that the learned doctors will rise in unison and appoint Hopkins to spearhead the campaign.
Hired on a six-month probationary basis, Tom reports to a humorless game-player who rejects five different drafts of the speech and ends up substituting one of his own. Hopkins is satisfied, but Tom persuades him that the approach is all wrong, that it misrepresents Hopkins' qualifications to head the campaign. Tom's approach is more sensible; Hopkins is impressed. Tom reminds Hopkins of his own son, who was killed in combat.
There are a number of subplots:
The fraudulent scheme of the caretaker of Tom's late grandmother, who forged a will in an attempt to inherit the deceased woman's home.
Hopkins' estrangement from his daughter (who quits school to elope with an undesirable man).
Tom's adulterous behavior during the war, which resulted in a son conceived in Italy, whose mother suddenly contacts him to seek monetary support at a most inconvenient time. With no understanding of the horrors of war, Betsy becomes furious upon learning of this secret and becomes estranged from Tom. However, she comes to understand that mutual emotional support—not just mutual ambition—bind wife and husband.
In the end, seeing the example of how his boss's marriage and family life have been ruined by overwork, Tom turns down a high-pressure position involving travel, in order to work normal hours and spend more time at home.
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