B.F.’s Daughter 1948

Polly Fulton, Barbara Stanwyck, is the only daughter of the wealthy industrialist B.F. Fulton Charles Coburn. She is engaged to family friend Bob Tasmin, Richard Hart, an affable, scrupulously honest lawyer whose steady nature can sometimes feel a bit dull. Then she meets Tom Brett, Van Heflin, a brash intellectual who blames many of the world’s problems on the rich. Polly and Tom dislike each other at first, but she finds him more exciting than the well-meaning “stuffed shirt” Bob, and they soon fall in love and marry.

Tom has a tense relationship with Polly’s family from the start, and he gradually realizes that his in-laws are using their connections to advance his career. He is not grateful but bitter. Polly is torn between her strong-willed husband and her devoted father, whom everyone calls “B.F.”

When World War II arrives, Tom takes a high-level civilian position in Washington, doing work that he cannot discuss. He and Polly rarely see each other and begin to lead separate lives.

Two wartime developments bring the relationship to a crisis point. First, Polly hears a rumor that Tom is having an affair. Then she is stunned by a news report that Bob Tasmin, now a dashing military officer happily married to Polly’s best friend Apples Sandler [Margaret Lindsay], has apparently been killed on a mission behind enemy lines. As the truth about both situations is revealed, Polly and Tom confront their problems and learn what they mean to each other.