One Sunday Afternoon 1933

Dr. Lucius Griffith “Biff” Grimes Gary Cooper is a small-town dentist dissatisfied with his lot. He is married to the lovely and affectionate Amy Lind Grimes Frances Fuller but still carries a torch for his former sweetheart, Virginia “Virgie” Brush Barnstead Fay Wray. Years earlier, Grimes lost Virgie to his old friend Hugo Barnstead Neil Hamilton. When the Barnsteads return to town, Hugo gives Grimes a job in his carriage factory on condition that he spy on the other employees. Grimes, desperate for money because Amy’s mother has come to live with them, takes the job but refuses to turn snitch. When Hugo fires him, Grimes loses his temper and wrestles with a security guard, who is shot in the leg. Hugo blames Grimes, who serves two years in prison. Amy and her mother take in washing to survive. She lies to Grimes about it and spends her hard-earned money on a correspondence course in dentistry.

In the present, Grimes is consumed with revenge. The now-wealthy Hugo needs a dental emergency and comes to see Grimes, who—under the influence of several drinks with his buddy Roscoe Karns Snappy Downer—comes close to killing his old rival while administering a blend of nitrous oxide and oxygen. The story of their past is told in flashback while the anesthetic is taking effect. In the present, Biff turns off the oxygen—and Virginia appears. She is now a harridan who dresses and acts like a prostitute. Clearly she makes Hugo’s life a misery. Grimes rushes to restore the oxygen and pulls the tooth. Barnstead comes to, oblivious to his close call and oblivious to the pass Virginia makes at Grimes, who cooly bids them good afternoon and tells Barnstead there is no charge. Amy comes in and gently scolds Grimes for drinking. Singing In the Good Old Summer Time, he tells her she is very sweet and beautiful and he loves her, and sweeps her up in his arms.