Niagara Falls

A peanut vendor witnesses Sam Sawyer attempting suicide by jumping from a cliff into the water below. He watches the moment and agrees to hear Sam's story in exchange for a free bag of peanuts.

The vendor proposes a bargain: a free bag of peanuts in exchange for Sam's tale about why he tried to end his life. Sam accepts, setting the frame for the flashback that follows.

Sam and his wife Emily begin their honeymoon at Niagara Falls, unaware that their trip will become the center of Sam's recollection. They share moments of wonder as they travel toward the falls.

On the way to the falls, Sam and Emily meet Tom and Margie, a quarrelsome couple connected by separate car accidents. They later see Tom and Margie again at their hotel.

Sam, misreading the situation, believes Tom and Margie are a married couple and offers them the bridal suite he and Emily reserved to help them reconcile. He steps in as an unwelcome counselor.

In a desperate bid to keep Tom and Margie together, Sam marches them into the smaller room and locks them in. Emily is distressed by his heavy-handed, obsessive approach.

Sam stays awake through the night, facing the door with a revolver to prevent any escape attempts. His fixation reveals the intensity of his misguided attempt to force a reconciliation.

During the nocturnal vigil, Tom and Margie realize they are in love and decide to marry, requesting a hotel guest minister and a witness to perform the ceremony.

In the morning, Sam and hotel management discover that Tom and Margie were not married but merely spent the night together. The female hotel guests demand that both couples be evicted in shame.

Back in the present, Sam concludes his tale and laments that nothing will ever cure him. The vendor seems unmoved by the confession, setting up the dramatic twist to come.

The peanut vendor physically pushes Sam over the cliff, abruptly ending the frame narrative. The act transitions from storytelling to Sam's peril in the water below.

Sam grimly clings to a branch, muttering that he will start minding his own business before it's too late. The moment heightens the sense of imminent danger.

The branch finally snaps, and Sam falls into the water below. He surfaces and manages to tread water, surviving the fall to the chagrin of those who pushed him.