 Della Chappell ( Joan Crawford (I)  (qv)) is a very wealthy and incredibly reclusive woman. When a big company wants the land Della lives on, the town sends out Barney Stafford ( Paul Burke (I)  (qv)) to talk to her. She invites Barney over to negotiate the proposal. Barney soon takes a liking to Della s equally reclusive daughter Jenny Chappell ( Diane Baker  (qv)). After spending some time with Jenny, he realizes that Della has a dark secret, one that keeps them from the outside world.