Bill and Abby—a young couple, even as they pass to the outside world as brother and sister—are living and working in Chicago at the beginning of the twentieth century. Looking to escape the poverty and hard labor of the city, they travel south with his sister Linda (who narrates the film) and find employment on a rural Texas farm. When the harvest is over, a rich and handsome farmer invites them to stay because he has fallen in love with Abby—thus setting in motion a complex domestic world of lies and jealousy. The film can best be understood as a remarkable homage to the wide landscapes and skies of Texas, and it emerges as one of the most beautiful films in American cinema.
Presented in collaboration with the Princeton Garden Theatre with an introduction by Art Museum director James Steward.
