20世纪初,Bill(理查·基尔 Richard Gere 饰)本来是工厂里的一名工人,因为打架他只能离开了工厂,带着女友Abby(布鲁克·亚当斯 Brooke Adams 饰)和妹妹Linda离开了芝加哥,在德克萨斯州的一个麦田上找到了一份收割麦子的工作。Bill和Abby伪装成兄妹。一位年轻的农民(山姆·夏普德 Sam Shepard 饰),也是农场的主人被Abby吸引,同时,他发现自己患了绝症。为了窃取农场主的财产,Bill让Abby嫁给了那农场主。不料在日复一日的相处中,Abby也对农场主产生了爱情。另一方面,Abby和Bill不寻常的来往也让农场主极为不快。于是Bill离开了麦田。过了一段时间,Bill又回来了,农场主终于忍无可忍,端着枪走向了Bill...... 本片获奥斯卡最佳摄影奖,并获最佳服装、最佳原声等提名。Bill and Abby, a young couple who to the outside world pretend to be brother and sister are living and working in Chicago at the beginning of the century. They want to escape the poverty and hard labor of the city and travel south. Together with the girl Linda (who acts as the narrator in the movie) they find employment on a farm in the Texas panhandle. When the harvest is over the young, rich and handsome farmer invites them to stay because he has fallen in love with Abby. When Bill and Abby discover that the farmer is seriously ill and has only got a year left to live they decide that Abby will accept his wedding proposal in order to make some benefit out of the situation. When the expected death fails to come, jealousy and impatience are slowly setting in and accidents become eventually inevitable.