Verdant Hawaii provides the backdrop for this 1963 drama profiling dictatorial pineapple grower Richard Howland (Charlton Heston) and his bigotry's malignant effects on those in his orbit. When his sister (Yvette Mimieux) announces her engagement to a full-blooded Hawaiian, Howland stews in a cauldron of racism -- despite his affair with a Chinese woman (France Nuyen). What follows is a tragic turn of events that may destroy Howland's family.