 Set during World War II, the film stars Carol Kane as Jeannie Dougall, a teenager who is raped by Billy (Doug McGrath), a friend of her brother Jimmie's (Paul Bradley), while the two men are home on furlough.She subsequently struggles against the harsh and cruel reaction of her parents Jim and Mary (Donald Pleasence and Doris Petrie) when she discovers that the incident has left her pregnant; Jim's proposed solution to the dilemma is to marry Jeannie off to Sandy (Leo Phillips), an old army friend of his who is in his 60s.The play and film were inspired by a real woman Fruet met in his youth, who had been forced to marry an older man by her parents in the same circumstances.