AllMovie

This grim and plodding drama concerns a young man who goes to work in a hardware store in a poor rural area. The owner is an old man who promises the young man he will inherit the store when he dies. Having no other means of support, the young man suffers daily indignations at the hands of his employer, swallowing his pride and tempering his thoughts of future ambition as he waits for the old man to die. He does find time to fall for a girl, the unstable daughter of a hopeless alcoholic, and the girl's mother agrees to the relationship when she hears of the young man's impending inheritance. When his employer finally dies, the two are married. To his horror, the young man soon discovers that his wife treats him with as much or more disrespect than he ever received from his irascible boss. He contemplates murder and suicide, convinced it is the only way he can escape the dilemma.