Yet the movie is never starchy. His patently agreeable manner suggests a desperation to be accepted, and he agrees to a powerful shipbuilder's unusual request. He must go to Italy, befriend the man's wastrel son and persuade him to return to America and start making money. Both Marge and Dickie are beautiful people, pampered yet hospitable, and poor Tom falls in love with their lifestyle. He ultimately becomes so obsessed with Dickie that he falls in love with him, too.
Dickie knowingly remains an enigma.
He constantly criticizes the worried Marge, with words too barbed to be dismissed as mere banter. Superficially, Dickie seems to consider it his birthright to be worshiped. So he feigns innocence, all the while taunting and tempting Tom. The game playing leads to stolen identities and several murders. Through it all, Tom feels some degree of pressure but never loses his focus.