A Feather in Her Hat

In 1925 London, a middle-aged, widowed shopkeeper named Clarissa Phipps, Pauline Lord, takes in a destitute, homeless Captain Randolph Courtney, Basil Rathbone. His blunt corrections of her son Richard’s speech and manners spark an idea that quietly shapes Richard’s upbringing.

Ten years later, on Richard, Louis Hayward’s twenty-first birthday, Clarissa reveals a stunning truth: she is not his mother, but had been hired to raise him by his real parents. She hands him a bank passbook with a balance of £1000 and asks him to move out on his own. Richard and Courtney are stunned. Emily Judson, Nydia Westman, who has grown up with him, is distressed, having hoped to marry him but seeing him slip from her grasp.

From Clarissa’s private papers, and what she implied, Courtney deduces that Richard’s mother is Julia Trent Anders, a former star actress, Billie Burke. Would-be playwright Richard, seeking to make her acquaintance, becomes a lodger in Julia’s mansion, where he also meets her absentminded scientist husband Paul, Victor Varconi, and her beautiful stepdaughter Pauline, Wendy Barrie. Richard and Pauline are drawn to one another, much to the annoyance of rival suitor Leo Cartwright, David Niven. Pauline, however, becomes aware of Emily’s prior claim and withdraws.

When Julia discovers that Richard has written a play, she introduces him to her friend, producer Sir Elroyd Joyce, Thurston Hall. Joyce reads the script as a favor to Julia; he sees promise in Richard’s work, but producing it would be too costly. Clarissa learns of this and sells her shop, using most of the proceeds to secretly finance the project without Richard’s knowledge.

They attend the premiere of Son of Sixpence, a night that proves a turning point for each of them. The success, though celebrated, takes a toll on Clarissa’s already fragile health. On her deathbed, she confesses to Richard that she is, in fact, his mother. Emily Judson, facing the truth, concedes Richard to Pauline.

Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 11:01