W. Somerset Maugham (Herbert Marshall), the story's narrator, drifts in and out of the lives of others. In the summer of 1919, at a Chicago country club party, expatriate Elliott Templeton (Clifton Webb) returns to the United States from France to visit his sister, Louisa Bradley (Lucile Watson), and his niece, Isabel (Gene Tierney). Isabel's fiancé, Larry Darrell (Tyrone Power), recently returned from service as a pilot during the Great War. Among the party guests are Larry's childhood friend, Sophie Nelson (Anne Baxter), and her boyfriend, Bob MacDonald (Frank Latimore). Larry refuses a job offer from the father of his friend, Gray Maturin (John Payne), a millionaire who is also in love with Isabel. Larry and Isabel agree to postpone their marriage for a year so that he can go to Paris to find out what meaning life has since being traumatized by the death of a comrade who sacrificed himself to save Larry. In Paris, Larry immerses himself in the life of a student. After
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