Don, an alcoholic, is unable to resist the lure of the bottle as he goes on a self-destructive binge. He uses various strategies to evade the watchful eye of his brother, Wick, and his sweetheart, Helen, in hiding his bottles with animal cunning. They have followed his debauch through a series of epidodes which includes his unblushing importunities of a bartender, begging for drinks; a horribly humiliating encounter when he is caught stealing money from a woman's purse; a racking walk along New York's Third Avenue, trying to pawn a typewriter for some cash; and a staggeringly ugly experience in the Bellevue alcoholic ward where he goes through a bout of delirium tremens.