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Marnie

Margaret "Marnie" Edgar, posing under the identity Marion Holland, flees with nearly $10,000 that she stole from the company safe of her employer, Sidney Strutt. Strutt is the head of a tax consulting company, where Marnie had worked after charming him into hiring her without references. Mark Rutland, a wealthy widower who owns a publishing company in Philadelphia, meets with Strutt on business; he learns about the theft and recalls Marnie from a previous visit.

Marnie travels to Virginia, where she stables a horse named Forio. She then visits her invalid mother, Bernice, whom she supports financially, in Baltimore. Marnie suffers from recurring nightmares and has an intense aversion to the color red, which triggers her hysteria.

Some months later, Marnie, posing as Mary Taylor, applies for a job at Mark's company. Although recognizing her, Mark hires her, cryptically telling his co-worker who questions hiring an applicant without references that he is an "interested spectator." While working weekend overtime with Mark, Marnie has a panic attack during a thunderstorm. Mark comforts, then kisses her. As they begin dating Mark discusses his background in zoology, particularly showing a fascination with predatory behavior. During a date at a racetrack, Mark fends off a persistent man who approaches Marnie, addressing her by another name, who Marnie insists she does not know.

Soon afterwards, Marnie steals money from Mark's company and flees again. Based on Marnie's comments on horses, Mark tracks her to the stable where she keeps Forio. Under threat of disclosure, Mark blackmails Marnie into marrying him, much to the chagrin of Lil, Mark's late wife's sister, who is in love with him.

On their honeymoon cruise, Marnie resists Mark's desire for physical intimacy, revealing that she finds sex repellent. Initially respecting her wishes, Mark tries to woo her, but after a few nights, they quarrel over Marnie's aloofness; Mark persists in physical advances while she freezes without consent. The next morning, Marnie attempts to drown herself in the ship's swimming pool, but Mark saves her.

After overhearing Marnie on a phone call, Lil tips off Mark that Marnie's mother is not dead, as Marnie claimed. Mark hires a private detective to investigate. Meanwhile, Lil overhears Mark telling Marnie he has "paid off Strutt" on her behalf. Lil mischievously invites Strutt and his wife to a party at the Rutland mansion. Strutt recognizes Marnie, but Mark pressures him into doing nothing. When Marnie later admits to additional robberies, Mark works to reimburse her victims to drop charges.

Mark brings Forio to their estate, pleasing Marnie. During a fox hunt, the red riding coat worn by one of the hunters triggers another of Marnie's fits and Forio bolts, misses a jump, injures its legs, and is left lying on the ground screaming in pain. Marnie frantically runs to a nearby house, obtains a gun, and euthanizes her horse. Overcome with grief, Marnie goes home, where she takes the key to Mark's office. She goes to the office and opens the safe, but finds herself unable to take the money. Mark arrives and "urges" her to take the money, testing her new reluctance to theft, but Marnie resists.

Mark takes Marnie to Baltimore to confront her mother and uncover the truth about Marnie's past. They arrive in a thunderstorm. As it is revealed that Bernice was a prostitute, Marnie's long-suppressed memories resurface. When Marnie was a small child, Bernice's sailor client tried to calm a frightened Marnie during a thunderstorm. Seeing him touch Marnie and believing he was trying to molest her, Bernice attacked him. As the sailor fended her off, Bernice fell and injured her leg, leaving her disabled. Frightened and attempting to protect her mother, Marnie fatally struck the man in the head with a fireplace poker. The sight of streaming blood caused her aversion to the color red, the thunderstorm that night caused her fear of them, and the connection of the deadly event to sex caused her revulsion at physical intimacy. To protect Marnie, Bernice told police that Bernice killed the man and prayed Marnie would forget the event. Understanding the reason behind her behavior, Marnie asks for Mark's help. They leave holding each other closely.