Merchant marine officer Tom Wingfield reminisces about his life in St. Louis where he had lived with his nagging mother Amanda and crippled shy sister Laura. Trivia In his 1988 autobiography "The Ragman's Son," Kirk Douglas says that he thinks that the effectiveness of this movie was hampered by Gertrude Lawrence's vanity, since the filmmakers were obliged to add scenes that made her character look younger and more appealing. Douglas also says that he prefers the 1987 film version directed by Paul Newman.