It's the off-season at the lonely Beauregard Hotel in Bournemoth, and only the long-term tenants are still in residence. Life is stirred up, however, when the beautiful Ann Shankland arrives to see her alcoholic ex-husband, John Malcolm, who is secretly engaged to Pat Cooper, the woman who runs the hotel. Meanwhile, snobbish Mrs Railton-Bell discovers that the kindly if rather doddering Major Pollock, played by David Niven, who won an Oscar for his performance, a retired officer who likes to find out more...

An upper middle class housewife finds herself being blackmailed by a loan shark, but, fortunately for her, the man he sends, a small-time crook and loner, becomes infatuated with her. This Ophuls film noir classic is rich in suspense, strikingly photographed and features career best performances from Joan Bennett and James Mason.
Based on the story 'The Blank Wall' by Elisabeth Sanxay Holding.