| Director | Joseph Losey |
|---|---|
| Genre | drama film |
| Runtime | 139 min |
| Country | United Kingdom, United States |
| Budget | $10 million |
| Box office | $2.9 million |
Flora 'Sissy' Goforth is a terminally-ill woman living with a coterie of servants, whom she verbally abuses, in a large mansion on a secluded Italian island. Into her life comes a mysterious man, Christopher Flanders, nicknamed "L'Angelo della morte" ("The Angel of Death"). Christopher claims to have met her previously, while Flora, for her part, affects not to remember having met him before. Flora is said to suffer from neuritis and several other kinds of "-itis."
In her complex of villas wired for sound, so she can at any moment resume her dictation, Flora is dictating her memoirs detailing her multiple marriages, and her affair with her only love - a now-deceased poet. She is interrupted when her guard dogs attack Christopher as he climbs the cliff side to her estate. She has her secretary Miss Black (whom she calls 'Blackie' throughout the film), set him up in a villa for him to recuperate. She also provides him with a samurai warrior's robe, with accompanying sword, to wear in lieu of his clothes that had been shredded from the dog attack.
She invites The Witch of Capri to dinner on her terrace. The 'Witch' informs her of Christopher's nickname and his history of visiting the dying shortly before their demise. Flora becomes convinced that he indeed may be an omen of her own impending doom, though she is in denial of it. Christopher meanwhile flagrantly seduces Miss Black, whose husband had died the year previously.
Flora begins to become enamored by Christopher, as well as terrified of him. She fluctuates between emotional vulnerability and being bombastic and heated. She drives Miss Black to quit her secretarial job and grows weaker as the day turns into night.
As she lies in bed dying, Christopher tells her a story of how he helped an old man with low quality of life drown and end his suffering. As he speaks, he takes her huge diamond ring—a symbol of taking away his "victim’s" life, but also of relieving her of earthly concerns. Flora dies following the speech and Christopher throws her ring off the cliff. The film ends with the sight of waves crashing and Christopher murmuring, "Boom!"