A heritage of greed, lies and hatred consumes an old family of Massachusetts snobs for generations before finally leading to happiness.

Adaptation of the Hawthorne novel certainly won't win the accolades of any literary purists, but is still a quite fine film on its own terms. Sanders and Price are great, but the standout is Lindsay, who deserved an Oscar nomination for her portrayal of a charming young women's descent into bitter spinsterhood. Interesting to note Price already has the underpinnings here of his future horror career.