介绍：In 1848, a young Frenchwoman, Madeline Minot, goes to New York City to see Thevenet, the grandfather of her fiance. Thevenet had been with Napoleon and may be sympathetic to the political aims of his grandson. She finds the old man in very bad spirits, living in a large house with a housekeeper and a butler who are just waiting for him to die (and perhaps helping him along a bit) so they can inherit his fortune. They see Madeline as a threat to their plans. She is aided in her dealings with these strange people by a mysterious man in a cloak.

介绍：路易斯（丹尼斯·普莱斯 Dennis Price 饰）的母亲出身高贵的阿斯特内家族，但因和一个意大利歌唱家私奔，至死都受到家族排斥已经长大成人的路易斯深深牢记贵族亲戚们拒绝母亲葬在家庭墓地的嘴脸，又经历心爱的少女茜贝拉（简·格林伍德 Joan Greenwood 饰）因他贫穷拒绝他的求婚，于是着手展开他的复仇计划。他把有爵位继承权的男性亲属一个个用计谋杀掉，旨在自己可以得到公爵爵位，在杀人变得越来越得心应手后，连老弱妇孺都不肯放过，反正他总能制造各种巧合，从来没有人怀疑到他身上。但在复仇计划执行的同时，他也陷入感情困扰——嫁人后的茜贝拉和他藕断丝连，又有个家族内美丽的遗孀艾迪丝（Valerie Hobson 饰）爱上了他，愿意和他订婚，在路易斯得意洋洋继承爵位和举办婚礼之际，他的罪行似乎也要败露……

介绍：The middle-class family of a young woman cannot understand why she delays in marrying a respectable young man. They know nothing about her long-standing affair with a Frenchman.