The fanciful, introductory foreword to the film explains:There was a land of Cavaliers and Cotton Fields called the Old South.To Logan"s amazement, Kayla was alive - she explained (shown in flashback) about the day she supposedly died, when she was given a shot of hydrochlorothiazide to fake her death (producing a flatlined heart-rate).After its original premiere, the movie was trimmed by 40 minutes (edited down to 116 minutes) and then shortened again for the US version (at 105-107 minutes)." (The names of the main characters in the original novel were Walter Huff and Phyllis Nordlinger.) Both are duplicitous and callous lovers - a beautiful, shrewd, predatory and dissatisfiedfemme fatalehousewife (with blonde bangs and an enticing gold anklet) and a likeable insurance salesman.Plot SynopsisThe well-known, multi-chaptered, much-celebrated, archetypal play was originally 20 episodes in length (but many have since been lost), and now only exists as nine chapters (rearranged), for a total of 214 minutes.