The Lost Moment

In a long flashback, a New York publisher travels to Venice seeking the lost love letters of early-19th-century poet Jeffrey Ashton, who disappeared mysteriously. Under the false name Lewis Venable, he rents a room from Juliana Bordereau, Ashton's former lover, now an aged recluse. Juliana's severe niece, Tina, runs the household and mistrusts Venable from the start. One night he finds Tina at the piano, her hair unpinned and wild, calling him Jeffrey and throwing herself at him. The family priest warns him to tread carefully around her fantasies, but Venable wants the letters at any cost, even Tina's sanity.