A loving nanny tries to protect an orphan from her stern, possessive grandmother in 1958 Virginia.

A young orphan who lives with her grandmother in a large Virginian home infatuates herself with the voices of Joan d'Arc. Her nanny seeks out the help of a rich suitor (David Lynch's first real acting role) to take her and the orphan away when she realizes that the often cruel grandmother cannot offer the orphan the love that she needs. Ends with an unpredictable plot twist.—Jennifer Harrison