Rachel is a 35-year-old school teacher who has no man in her life and lives with her mother. When a man from the big city returns and asks her out, she begins to have to make decisions about her life and where she wants it to go.
Acting
Joanne Woodward's trembling restraint — every micro-expression hurts.
Direction
Newman's surprisingly delicate debut; he lets silence do the work.
Cinematography
Claustrophobic small-town spaces that feel like emotional prisons.
Director
Paul Newman
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was Paul Newman's sole directorial outing for nearly two decades — he wouldn't direct again until 1980's 'The Shadow Box.'
Woodward won Best Actress at Cannes for this, yet the film was a commercial flop. Audiences in 1968 weren't ready for a 'virgin' protagonist who wasn't played for laughs.
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