The Touch of Flesh

Dr. Earl Denton owns most of the town of Dentonville, but hoping to leave a lasting monument to his daughter Joan, is buying land to create a premium housing development in her name. Unknown to Earl, Joan has been carrying on an affair with local orphan Edwin Mercer, a mechanic at the laundry, and has become pregnant. When Joan tells Eddie that she is pregnant, he wants to marry her, and is shocked to learn that she wants only for him to arrange an abortion. At the local lunchroom, policeman George Brown, who like Eddie was raised at the Dentonville Children's Home, taunts the younger man about being ashamed of his background. When newcomer Vikky Smith enters the lunchroom and inquires about a job and housing, Eddie recommends his boardinghouse and a job at the laundry. Later at the Denton house, Earl meets with his lawyer, Sam Ingram, who exhorts him not to "interfere" in the real estate deals he is arranging for the housing development. As Earl leaves, Joan receives a call from Eddie, who declares that he cannot allow her to terminate her pregnancy and wants to meet. Upon hanging up, Joan realizes that Sam has been listening on the other extension. The next day, Vikky secures a job from the lecherous laundry manager and asks Eddie to drive her to the store to buy a uniform. Afterward, Eddie returns to his room, where he finds Joan in his bed. She tries to seduce him, but when he asserts that he wants their child to have the family he never had, she declares that she will never marry him and calls him a "hick." As Joan runs out, Vikky, who now lives across the hall, hears Eddie yell that he will expose Joan if she tries to have the abortion. Sam, who has been spying on Eddie, now sees Vikky invite Eddie into her room. Later, at a father-daughter dance at the golf club, Joan reveals her pregnancy to her father. He takes her home and urges her to marry Eddie, but Joan refuses vehemently and insists once again on an abortion. Believing Eddie wants only access to the Denton fortune, Earl sadly agrees to help Joan. Meanwhile, Vikky, though disappointed that Eddie is not interested in her, spends the night counseling him about Joan. In the morning, Earl invites Eddie to talk, but on his way over, George arrests him for robbery. Eddie declares that Vikky will vouch for his whereabouts, but after George warns her that admitting to spending the night in a boy's room will ruin her reputation in town, she refuses to vouch for Eddie. Earl turns to Sam for advice and is horrified when the lawyer reveals that he has had Eddie arrested on false charges and has spent the Denton fortune on swampland behind the Children's Home, planning to sell it to unsuspecting seniors for a huge profit. When Earl tries to stop him, Sam threatens to expose Joan's pregnancy unless Earl cooperates. Meanwhile, George, who is in cahoots with Sam, refuses Eddie a lawyer, and when Eddie argues, George beats him mercilessly. He is stopped by the arrival of Tom Daly, a lawyer Vikky has called. Tom, who assumes that Eddie is a punk, demands to know why he is harassing the Dentons and warns Eddie that Vikky, his client, is on parole and in danger of losing her child because of her involvement with another troublemaking boy. He is soon convinced of Eddie's sincerity, however, and vows to fight for him. To that end, he visits the Dentons', where Joan is gleefully preparing to travel the next day to the abortionist whom Sam has hired for her. Earl is saddened by her frivolity, but remains fiercely protective, and administers a sedative to help her sleep. Downstairs, Earl admits Tom, who informs him that Eddie has been beaten and wants no money, only to give the child a home. Just then, Sam calls to inform Earl that Eddie has escaped, and Earl joins Tom in searching for him. Joan has been listening upstairs, and now grabs her father's gun, determining to find Eddie and kill him. Eddie has gone to the Children's Home, where the proprietress, Miss Hannah, advises him that he cannot run away from his past or from his present troubles. They are interrupted when a drugged Joan enters and shoots Eddie in the arm. To save Hannah and the children, Eddie lures Joan outside into the swamp, where she chases him, taunting him to "come make love" to her. Hannah calls the police, and while George and Sam speed to the swamp, Tom, Earl and Vikky follow. There, they hear more gunfire as Joan catches up to Eddie and shoots him again. Eddie runs away and collapses, and when Tom finds him and realizes he has no gun, the lawyer informs Earl that it is his daughter who is brandishing the weapon. Tom takes Eddie to Vikky while Earl and George spot Joan, but when Earl admonishes her to give him the gun, she runs back to Eddie and shoots him several more times, killing him. As Vikky sobs over Eddie's body, a devastated Earl leads Joan away as she screams, "You can't make me have it."