In 1946, David Alfred Eaton (Paul Newman) returns home from the war to Philadelphia. He finds his mother Martha (Myrna Loy) driven to alcoholism by years of neglect and abuse from her husband Samuel Eaton (Leon Ames (actor)), owner of a prestigious iron and steel company. Having withdrawn from his family after the death of his firstborn son thirteen years earlier, Samuel's resentment drove Alfred to turn his back on the family business and strike out on his own with Lex Porter (George Grizzard), his closest friend.