A romance between a young widow and a sea captain's ghost weaves a magical tale of immortal love. Determined to live her life the way she wants, newly widowed Lucy Muir (Gene Tierney) declines her straitlaced in-laws demand that she live with them and moves with her daughter (a young Natalie Wood) to the seaside into a cottage haunted by the handsome, blustering Captain Gregg (Rex Harrison). a deal is struck between the two in the wee hours of the morning allowing Lucy to stay in the house and the captain to materialize only in the master bedroom. As they gradually get to know each other better, Lucy's spunk and stubbornness gains first the captain's grudging respect, then his heart. But when another man woos Lucy, both must face that her future lies with the living, not in the spirit world.