A Powerful Drama About A Family Haunted By A Terrible Secret

Mike Dunmore (Kirk Douglas) is so well-liked by the residents of Prydham, the small Cape Cod town where he owns the general store, that they want him to run for Selectman to sit on the City Council; "I Like Mike" soon becomes the local slogan.

But Mike has a terrible secret which he has harbored his whole life, and he knows that if he reveals it now he will lose the respect of the community.

Not even his family knows what this secret is, although it is the cause of lifelong resentment between Mike and his son, Patrick (Bruce Boxleitner), who remembers a childhood of broken promises and rejection. The only person who knows the truth about Mike is his old friend, Thurgood (Brock Peters). He ensures that the secret is kept by covering up for Mike in every possible way.

When his adored 9 year old grandson, Danny (Jesse R. Tendler), begins to have problems at school, Mike becomes deeply concerned. His grandfatherly concern turns to fear when he recognizes the same affliction he has known all his life, and the same pattern of shame and deception, repeating themselves in Danny. He realizes that the only way he can help his grandson is by confronting his own weakness and revealing the truth...