Trama

In California, four couples who have bought houses near one another face problems, alcoholism, racism, promiscuity, and discrimination against lack of education, until a tragic event forces them to reassess their lives.

The marital difficulties of four couples living in a southern-California housing development become intertwined. Among the unhappy couples are ne'er-do-well Jerry Flagg and his long-suffering wife Isabelle, flirtatious Leola Boone and her sadistic husband Troy, hard-working Herman Kreitzer and his understanding wife Betty, and newlyweds Jean and David Martin.—Daniel Bubbeo <dbubbeo@cmp.com>

College-educated newlywed couple David and Jean Martin (Jeffery Hunter, Patricia Owens) move into a newly constructed suburban Los Angeles subdivision in the late 1950s. They are invited to a cookout in the backyard of their new next-door neighbors, Herman and Betty Kreitzer (Pat Hingle, Barbara Rush), where they meet other neighbors, Jerry and Isabelle Flagg (Tony Randall, Sheree North), and Troy and Leola Boone (Cameron Mitchell, Joanne Woodward). The neighbors are contemporary 1950s married couples dealing with issues that suburbanites have dealt with for years; alcoholism, marital infidelity, racism, and religion are dealt with during the film's 101-minute runtime. "No Down Payment" is an interesting look at 1950s suburban life and issues.—Robert T. Jenkins

The intertwined lives of four couples living in Sunrise Hills Estates, the new housing development in the suburban American town of Sunrise Hills are presented; their backyards form the equivalent of the four corners. By design, Sunrise Hills is a homogeneous community of white middle-class Christian families. Each of the four couples enter this living situation from different histories; some just see it as a stopover to something better; others spend their time trying to make Sunrise Hills the best place to live: home. Regardless of which group they fall into, each person regards this living situation as an important, necessary step on their path to The American Dream. The financial price for taking this step is being in debt for 25 years as houses, cars, and other big-ticket items can be easily purchased on credit, no money down, something not available to people in their standing one generation earlier. The surface homogeneity does not necessarily make for a harmonious community below the surface, especially as there is a natural course of outward neighborliness in everyone being the same and having the same views without that actually being the case.—Huggo