Summaries

Synopsis

Many generations ago, the Wilherns were a prestigious, wealthy, and respected family. However, things went downhill after young Ralph Wilhern had a romance with (and impregnated) a servant girl named Clara. Though he wished to marry Clara, Ralph was talked out of the idea by his family and married a young woman of his own social class. A devestated Clara commits suicide.

Unfortunately for the Wilherns, Clara's mother happens to be a witch. To avenge her daughter, the old woman curses the wealthy Wilherns, promising that the next girl born into the family will have the face of a pig, until she is accepted and loved by "one of her own kind." For generations, only sons were born to Wilherns, and the curse was nearly forgotten. But finally, Jessica and Franklin Wilhern produced a baby girl, Penelope, born with the nose and ears of a pig.

Penelope's parents attempt to have the nose surgically removed, but the placement of a certain artery makes it impossible. They resort to hiding ther daughter in their lavish mansion, with Jessica banning anything pig-related (such as bacon) from the household. Due to the media circus revolving about the rumors of the "pig-faced girl," Franklin and Jessica fake Penelope's death and dedicate their time to finding her a welathy husband, which they believe will break the curse.

Though Penelope is isolated, she is well-educated and develops a love for horticulture. When she is 18, Jessica hires a matchmaker, Wanda, to assist with the husband-hunt. A room is set up with a one-way mirror, allowing Penelope to talk with potential matches while hidden in her room. When she reveals her face to them, however, they run from the house screaming. They are caught (by the Wilhern's butler, Jake), and legally forced to keep Penelope's condition secret. Seven years later, after one such meeting, the young man in question (the snobbish Edward Vanderman III) outruns Jake and attempts to report "monsterous" Penelope to the police. Edward is laughed at and imprisoned for the night. The next morning, his story is printed in the newspaper, citing his outburst as a "mental breakdown."

Desperate to clear his name, Edward complains to the author of the article. About to be dismissed a second time, Edward has a chance meeting with Mr. Lemon, a reporter determined to get a photograph of Penelope. Lemon had nearly gotten the picture in Penelope's infancy, but was attacked by Jessica, resulting in the loss of his eye. He and Edward team up to reveal her existance to the community.

Lemon decides to find a "down-and-out blueblood" who would be willing to meet with Penelope while rigged with a hidden camera. He finds a name of a nearly broke man from a wealthy family: Max Campion. Lemon visits a gambling hall that Campion frequents, and is directed to his poker table. Lemon bribes the young man he believes to be Campion with $5,000 to participate in the scheme. The following day, "Max" meets up with Edward and Lemon and is affixed with a jacket containing a camera. Max enters the Wilhern house and files into the observation room with other young, wealthy candidates. As Max's camera malfunctions, he drops behind a sofa to fix it. At that moment, Penelope enters the room and the other young men flee. A disheartened Penelope retreats to the kitchen, where she argues with her controlling mother about the futility of finding a husband. Jessica and Wanda spy Max through the security camera, sitting alone in the observation room (having been the only one to not see Penelope). They quickly send Penelope to speak with him through the one-way mirror.

Max and Penelope bond in their conversation, despite Max's obvious crooked ways. Max promises to return the next day. He assures Lemon he will be back to secure the photograph, which he had failed to obtain. The following day, Penelope suspects that Max plays a musical intstrument, and he playfully asks her to guess which one while he demonstrates his (lacking) skills at guitar, drums, bass, and saxaphone. Penelope concludes that Max pays piano, and finally reveals her face to him while helping him play a chord. Max is taken aback, but does not run. He snaps a picture, and is immediately ashamed as Penelope runs from the room. Max returns to Edward and Lemon, destorying the camera and photograph, as Jessica spys them and recognizes Lemon from years before. After an altercation back in the house, a tearful Penelope begs Max to marry her and break the curse. Max sadly refuses, and is banished from the house.

That night, Penelope steals her mother's credit card, covers her pig snout with a scarf, and escapes into the city for the first time. She calls her parents from a payphone, assuring them that she is safe, and books a room at a hotel. Franklin and Jessica face dilemmas about finding their daughter; they cannot describe her to authorities without mentioning the pig features, which will expose her.

After having a beer at a bar, Penelope befriends a delivery girl named Annie who helps her explore the city. After nearly being discovered by her parents, Penelope decides to sell her own photograph to Lemon to avoid using Jessica's credit card. Though Penelope still hides her identity, her picture starts a media frenzy. Her parents spot her once again, and after a chase through the city, an exhausted Penelope faints. Annie removes the scarf to reveal the famous pig snout.

To Penelope's surprise, she is welcomed and treated kindly by the community, and has no further need to conceal her face. Edward, however, still sees Penelope as a hideous monster, and angers his prestigious father by expressing his disgust to the press. To redeem his image, Edward proposes to Penelope, who is hesitant because of lingering feelings for Max. At a theater one night, a still smitten Max confronts Edward about hurting Penelope, but remains hindered by his own guilt for leaving her.

At the newspaper office, Lemon overhears that Max Campion was recently arrested for robbery. Shocked, Lemon visits the police station where he discovers the real Max: a middle-aged, portly man who also played poker at the gambling hall. Lemon asks about the young man who claimed to be Max, and Campion identifies him as Johnny Martin. Lemon realizes his mistake: he had approached the wrong man at the poker table, but the phony Max had played along for the money.After visiting Johnny at his blue-coller job, he discovers why Johnny could not break Penelope's curse: he is merlely a plumber's son, not a blue-blooded aristocrat. Penelope must marry "one of her own kind."

The day of Penelope and Edward's wedding arrives. Edward is still disgusted by his fiancee, but is assured by his mother that the curse will be broken once the wedding is over. Penelope does not love Edward, and stoically allows herself to be preened for the ceremony. At the alter, Penelope backs out of the marriage and retreats to her room, with Jessica in hot pursuit. Jessica pleads with Penelope to reconsider and rid herself of the curse, but Penelope replies "I like myself the way I am." At that moment, a flash of light and a swirl of memories occurs, and a stunned Penelope finds her pig nose has been replaced by a human one. By being accepted by one of her own kind (herself), she had broken the curse.

Without the iconic snout, Penelope falls out of the media circle and is free to live a low-profile life. She leaves home and becomes an elementary school horticulture teacher. Jake, the Wilhern butler, also leaves the household, revealing himself to be the witch who had cursed the family generations ago (he also "mutes" Jessica, sparing the family from her constant demands). On Halloween, Penelope is surprised to find that she, in her pig-faced form, is the most popular costume among her students. Remembering who had accepted her from the beginning, she decides to reconcile with Johnny. Dressed as herself (by wearing a fake pig snout), Penelope goes with Annie to a Halloween party at the theater where Johnny works and rents an apartment. Penelope nervously knocks on his door, under the guise of "having to pee." She notices he is packing a suitcase, and he tells her he is leaving town. Still not recognizing her, he sadly tells her that her mask reminds him of someone he used to know. Penelope sees a piano in the corner and reveals her indentity, remembering that she had guessed his instrument correctly before. Johnny kisses her and apologizes for being unable to break the curse. With a smile, Penelope removes her mask, showing that she had the power all along.

Penelope tells her story to her horticulture class (accompanied by Johnny, now in a relationship with her), and asks their opinion of the curse. One young student replies insightfully "It's not the power of the curse, it's the power you give the curse." After sending the class off to collect plant samples in the park, Johnny pushes Penelope on a nearby swing. Lemon sits in a rowboat in the nearby lake, ready to sneak a picture of the new Penelope. Seeing her happiness, he thinks better of it and rows away.