spoiler feel alone and need companionship as well a love france austen and sandy dennis and keep all these emotion inside a she go through life a a popular young single lady who have many high class friend . but for reason of her own deep insecurity she keep them at arm length . a for france male friend non be anywhere near her age so that she would not have any reason to have any romantic involvement with them . one early evening a france be entertain some of her friend she spot outside her apartment window a young man and michael burn and sit alone in the cold pouring rain . feeling that he homeless and alone after her friend leave france go outside to the park and offer the young man shelter at her place until the rain subsides and even to stay over for the night at a guest bedroom that she have . you can see right away that france be more interested in just have the young man safely out of the cold and rain then she want to have him a a friend lover or even play toy all for herself and a the movie progress you see that you be right . a really amazing performance by sandy dennis that in a way be very much like that of kathy bates academy award performance in the movie misery that be make in 1990 some twenty one year later . france think that the young man be alone and homeless and and later when she meet him and mute see the perfect person for her to have a a true friend . he in no way her equal or good then her like the friend that she have and doctor lawyer indian chief and and thus be totally dependent on her . it later turn out that the young man be not the lonely and homeless person that frances think that he be . it when she slowly find out that he really doesn not need her as well a him manipulate her instead the other way around it set off something in france mind that turn out to be a compulsion of murderous proportion . a really weird film by director robert altman that go deep into the depth of loneliness and depression of the human mind . actress sandy dennis be perfect a the dr. jekyll and miss . hyde personality in her acting a the lonely but at the same time dangerous france austen and it a pity that not only do not she get an academy award for her role in the film but wasn not even nominate for it . like most robert altman movie there seem to be a lot of improvisation among the actor in the movie and ad lib dialog especially between the young man sister nina and susanne benton and and her boyfriend nick and david garfield . the only thing in the movie that i find confusing be when we see france go to a city clinic to have a full gynecological exam and tell the doctor that she expect to get married very soon . be her husband to be the young man stay at her apartment . but besides that the movie stick to the story pretty well and the end be a real shock to the audience as well a the young man . when he finally and in the end and realize that france be not only a bit off the wall but murderously insane as well .