The film opens "in medias res" with Al Roberts (Tom Neal), an unemployed piano player, hitchhiking. After getting a ride, he arrives at a roadside diner in Reno, Nevada, where he sits at the counter and slowly drinks a cup of coffee. Another customer in the diner plays a song on the jukebox, one that disturbs Al, for it reminds him of his former life in New York City. He remembers a time there when he was bitter about squandering his musical talent working in a cheap nightclub. After his girlfriend Sue Harvey (Claudia Drake), the nightclub's lead singer, quits her job and leaves to seek fame in Hollywood, he becomes depressed. After some anguish, Al decides to travel to California to see Sue and marry her. With little money, though, he is forced to hitchhike his way across the country.