The year is 1950 and Ruth Banes is a newly hatched high school graduate who yearns for independence from her family, particularly from a dull and judgmental father. She wants to make life happen, rather than having life happen to her. Barry Crowder will graduate from USC with a degree in aeronautical engineering. His father, Henry Crowder, is the head of stress engineering at McDonnell Douglas, a young aeronautical company in El Segundo,...