In the dry, dusty western hamlet of San Angelo, landowner Joe Bradford kills his brother and then marries his brother's widow, Gertie. Gertie's son, Hawk, decides that something's rotten in this state of affairs and thinks about taking action

The wife of brilliant, but boisterous and ill-tempered conductor of the London Symphony puts up with his childishness, but the last straw is drawn when he begins an affair with a young pianist.