Flesh and Fantasy

New Orleans, Louisiana serves as the backdrop for Henrietta, Betty Field — a plain and embittered woman who secretly loves Michael, Robert Cummings. On Mardi Gras night, a mysterious stranger hands her a white mask of beauty that she must return by midnight. At a party, Michael falls for Henrietta but has yet to see her face beneath the mask. Henrietta urges Michael to pursue a better life, even if that path might cost them both. When the clock strikes midnight, she removes the mask and discovers she is now beautiful, realizing that her previous selfishness was the true source of her ugliness.

In the second tale, the palmist Septimus Podgers, [Thomas Mitchell], performs uncanny predictions at a party for the wealthy and bored. He warns skeptical lawyer Marshall Tyler, [Edward G. Robinson], to avoid a certain street intersection on his way home. Podgers pretends to see more in his hand but refuses to admit it. Marshall, skeptical, resists the warning and nearly becomes entangled in a police chase at the intersection. He visits Podgers at his home, and under pressure, Podgers concedes that he foresees Marshall killing someone. The notion consumes Marshall, who decides that he must kill someone—anyone—to get it over with. He comes close to harming two people but cannot go through with it. The fateful meeting occurs on a bridge, where, blaming Podgers for his dilemma, Marshall strangles him to death in a rage. An escape attempt ends with Marshall being struck by a car. The accident is witnessed by the Great Paul Gaspar, [Charles Boyer], a high-wire artist, and this moment slides the story into its final act.

In the final segment, the Great Paul Gaspar, [Charles Boyer], a high-wire artist, is haunted by dreams of falling; in each vision he encounters the woman he has never met, Joan Stanley, [Barbara Stanwyck]. The dreams disrupt his focus as he hesitates on the daring jump from one wire to another. Eventually he meets his dream girl, a woman with serious troubles of her own. Paul resolves to take control of his life, deciding not to let his dreams govern him and to live on his own terms. He completes the stunt successfully, not knowing that the woman he has fallen for is about to be arrested.

Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 14:03