FAQ

In early 1900s (Edwardian) England, beautiful but unscrupulous Ivy Lexton (Joan Fontaine), tired of being poor, poisons her husband Jervis (Richard Ney) and allows her secret lover, Doctor Roger Gretorex (Patric Knowles), to take the fall so that she can go after wealthy bachelor Miles Rushworth (Herbert Marshall). However, Inspector Orpington (Cedric Hardwicke) of Scotland Yard begins asking questions.

Ivy is based on the 1927 novel The Story of Ivy by English novelist Marie Bellock Lowndes. The novel was adapted for the screenplay by English playwright Charles Bennett.

When Ivy learns that Roger has been granted a reprieve because of new evidence that exonerates him and points to the real killer, she races back to the apartment in London, intending to retrieve her purse from the back of the grandfather clock. When she opens the apartment door, however, she is startled to see Miles sitting in a chair waiting for her. He explains that Inspector Orpington met him at Waterloo Station and told him that they have enough evidence to convict Ivy of her husband's murder. As Ivy tries to cling to him, Miles disentangles himself and walks out the door, saying only, 'I feel sorry for you, Ivy...deeply sorry.' In tears, Ivy rushes from the apartment and summons the elevator. When it arrives, she suddenly remembers her purse. She tells the elevator operator to wait and races back to the apartment to retrieve the purse. Meanwhile, the elevator is summoned to another floor, leaving the gate open. When Ivy finds that her purse is not there, she panics. She rushes back to the elevator and blindly steps through the gate, falling to her death.