FAQ

Ne'er-do-well Julian Berniers (Dean Martin) returns home to New Orleans and his two spinster sisters Anna (Wendy Hiller) and Carrie (Geraldine Page) with his beautiful young bride Lily (Yvette Mimieux) on his arm and $150,000 in his pocket. While Julian lavishly showers his sisters with fancy dresses, bottles of champagne, and a trip to Paris, his insecure bride, herself the daughter of wealthy Albertine Prine (Gene Tierney), fears that her husband may be having an affair with another woman or, worse yet, that her mother paid Julian to marry her.

Toys in the Attic is based on a stage play of the same name by American playwright Lillian Hellman. The play was adapted for the movie by American screenwriter James Poe.

The 150K was from his sale of two acres of swamp land to Cyrus Warkins (Larry Gates), who owned a large percentage of a development company that needed the land to expand a railroad line along the river.

Carrie tricks Lily into phoning Cyrus Warkins under the pretext of begging his wife Charlotte (Nan Martin) to give her one more year with Julian. She also lets it be known that Charlotte is cousin to her mother's Black chauffeur Henry (Frank Silvera) and that Charlotte and Julian are planning to meet at the coffee shop near Pier 6 so that they can go away together to New York. Meanwhile, Julian escorts Charlotte to her boat when they are suddenly ambushed by two thugs who beat up Julian, steal his money, and slash Charlotte's face with a straight-edged razor. Julian and Charlotte are taken to the hospital where they are joined by Carrie, Anna, and Lily. Anguishing over how Warkins knew about the plan to meet at Pier 6, Carrie intentionally lets it be known that it was Lily, and Lily tearfully confirms that she made the call. Incensed, Julian slaps Lily's face, knocking her to the ground, and lets Carrie take him home. When Carrie happily begins to baby him, Julian realizes that it was Carrie who manipulated Lily into contacting Warkins. Instead of going upstairs to rest, Julian puts on his jacket and, while Carrie shouts insults at him, heads out the door to find Lily. Anna, who has been watching quietly, assures Julian that she's in favor of his decision. As Carrie continues to gloat that Julian will eventually return to her, Anna also heads out the door with her suitcase. In the final scene, Carrie re-enters the house alone and collapses on the staircase in tears.