Jack Lemmon stars as a struggling Los Angeles garment manufacturer who contemplates burning down his factory in order to claim the insurance and pay off his debts. This drama about the consumer rat race is bludgeoning rather than hard-hitting, and Lemmon's role seems very much in the tradition of Arthur Miller's Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman. Lemmon won a best actor Oscar, but he has given far better performances in films such as The Apartment. The Academy loves a comedian being serious, however, and the movie was said to have caught the Watergate mood of sleaze and disenchantment.

A businessman's professional struggles begin to conflict with his personal life over the course of two days.