Halvard Solness (Shawn) is an aging architect of a small town in Norway who has managed to attain some distinction and local reputation, and long married to Aline (Hagerty). One day while having a visit from his friend Doctor Herdal (Pine), Solness is visited by Hilde Wangel (Joyce), a young woman of twenty-two from another town whom the doctor promptly recognizes from a recent trip.