David Charleston, once a world renowned journalist, now lives alone maintaining the Thunder Rock lighthouse in Lake Michigan. He doesn't cash his paychecks and has no contact other than the monthly inspector's visit. When alone, he imagines conversations with those who died when a 19th century packet ship with some 60 passengers sank. He imagines their lives, their problems, their fears and their hopes. In one of these conversations, he recalls his own efforts in the 1930s when he desperately tried to convince first his editors, and later the public, of the dangers of fascism and the inevitability of war. Few would listen. One of the passengers, a spinster, tells her story of seeking independence from a world dominated by men. There's also the case of a doctor who is banished for using unacceptable methods. David has given up on life, but the imaginary passengers give him hope for the future.
Michael Redgrave
as David Charleston
Barbara Mullen
as Ellen Kirby
James Mason
as Streeter
Lilli Palmer
as Melanie Kurtz
Finlay Currie
as Capt. Joshua Stuart
Frederick Valk
as Dr. Kurtz
Sybille Binder
as Anne Marie
Frederick Cooper
as Briggs
Jean Shepeard
as Mrs. Briggs
Barry Morse
as Robert
George Carney
as Harry
Miles Malleson
as Chairman of Directors
