A group of young sophisticates with modern ideas spends the weekend in the New York home of Liz and Les Crawford. Liz’s sister, Sara Jaffrey, has refused the proposals of a kindhearted sailor, Johnnie Coles, because she loves her old beau, handsome Bill Truesdale. Bill, however, loves Evie Lawrence, whom he plans to marry. When Evie rejects Bill for millionaire Lyman Patterson and Johnnie returns to the Navy, Bill and Sara find themselves without mates. On the rebound from his affair with Evie, Bill marries Sara. In Paris, a month into their marriage, Bill goes out for the mail and runs into Evie. While Sara waits at home with her father, who has come to meet Bill, Bill spends the afternoon sipping champagne with Evie. Although Sara is furious at Bill, she decides to be a “good sport,” all the while making sarcastic remarks about the situation under her breath. Even when Evie arrives wearing the same dress that Sara had bought to surprise Bill, Sara is polite. Before he leaves, Sara’s father warns her not to sacrifice who she is for love and adds that marriage is a compromise that often deprives people of grace. The Truesdales return to Long Island, where Johnnie, now an architect, is remodeling an old farmhouse for their new home. Evie and Bill continue to spend much time together, prompting Johnnie to tell Sara she is too good for Bill. During a yacht club party, Sara dances unhappily with Lyman, while Evie and Bill remove their evening clothes and jump into the ocean, drinking from a flask and laughing. Sara sees them and is humiliated. Her bold, determined and outspoken nature has been replaced by the persona of a weak and desperate wronged wife. When Evie and Bill rejoin the party, Sara confronts Bill and falls to her knees, begging for his love. Upon seeing Johnnie then throw himself at her feet, swearing his love, Sara remembers her father’s warning and realizes she has compromised her dignity for love. She tells Johnnie goodbye, returns to the house, and insults Evie. When Bill scolds her for her childish display of jealousy, she tells him that marriage is not important enough for her to sacrifice herself. In Paris, Sara signs her divorce papers, then discovers Bill in her hotel room. He tells her that he failed to recognize his love for her until she left him and apologizes for his behavior. Evie is now pregnant with Lyman’s child, and Bill has not seen her since the night Sara walked out on him. When her father telephones at the hotel, Sara pretends she is talking to her lover and walks out on Bill. Unable to abandon her husband, however, she soon returns to his arms. More on Wikipedia or Mubi
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