故事发生在1552年的英国,即将到来的权利交替让王公贵族们各个如临大敌,在摄政王约翰达利公爵(约翰·伍德 John Wood 饰)的暗中操纵下,原本的继承人,信奉天主教的玛丽公主(Jane Lapotaire 饰)遭到了排挤,简(海伦娜·伯翰·卡特 Helena Bonham Carter 饰)成为了继位者。之后,约翰公爵让儿子吉尔福德(加利·艾尔维斯 Cary Elwes 饰)迎娶了简,如此一来,实权便落入了他的手中。
An unexpected blizzard threatens the Parton family, while at the same time Dolly's father (and his kids) make sacrifices to raise enough money to finally buy his wife the wedding ring he could never afford to give her. Meanwhile, an important person in little Dolly's life begins to see that her amazing voice and musical gift might just be made for something bigger than rural Tennessee.
John Day is a bank manager and lives with his wife Maria Day. The couple has recently lost their only daughter. Maria is always depressed and never opens up with anyone. One day when John is away for office work, a courier-boy enters the house and takes Maria as a captive, then a series of misfortunes start to happen.
Nightclub singer Larry Todd breaks off his romance with a beautiful showgirl when he realizes she's the girlfriend of a murderously jealous gangster. While on the run, Larry mistakenly believes he kills one of the mobsters and is helped to escape police by heiress Mary Carol, who smuggles Larry and partner Myron to Cuba. Mary has inherited a haunted castle on an isolated island...