Walter Williams (Brian Donlevy) is a take-charge captain of industry who has worked his way up in a San Francisco steel company from a position as a sheet metal worker. He loves his wife Irene (Helen Walker) very much and they have planned a vacation drive together. Irene cancels at the last minute claiming a toothache, but asks that Walter drive her cousin Jim Torrance (Tony Barrett) as far as Illinois. Walter agrees and he and Jim take off together but later Jim knocks Walter unconscious and takes the car only to be hit himself by a truck and killed, his body burned beyond recognition. Walter comes to and suffering a concussion and deep confusion from feeling betrayed by Irene hides out in a small Midwest town until guilt and peer pressure force him to go back to San Francisco and tell his story to the Police. But by the time Walter returns to San Francisco a clever detective Lieutenant Quincy (Charles Coburn) has uncovered some facts about Irene and her cousin' Jim. The police have been holding Irene for the murder of her husband Walter but release her considering that Walter was hiding out because he had killed Jim. Along the way to uncovering the truth in Court Walter realizes some hard fact about what he holds valuable and the trust he has put in those around him.刘雅历（林子祥 饰）与朱丽娥（郑裕玲 饰）结为了夫妻，与女儿慧敏（周慧敏 饰）一起开始了新的生活。但没想到新生活将迎接挫折——某银行突然倒闭了，雅历所在的广告公司也破产了。面临事业的雅历感到非常沮丧难过，为新生活蒙上了阴霾。 生活还是要继续的，慧敏与丽娥担当起了养活家庭的责任。可是这样以来便令雅历的心理承受着巨大的压力，家人之间的感情也渐渐变淡。 慧敏跟旧同学一起做金融投资，一向聪明的雅历发现了当中的疑点，怀疑是旧同学骗取慧敏及他人的钱财……学生安德森（克里斯托弗·里夫 Christopher Reeve 饰）在编剧上的的过人才华让如今早已江郎才尽的辛尼（迈克尔·凯恩 Michael Caine 饰）又羡慕又嫉妒，安德森让他想起了自己曾经有过的那些春风得意的时光。在辛尼的指导下，安德森完成了一个名叫《死亡计 中计》的剧本，准备在辛尼家中进行试演。辛尼从剧本中看出了商机，他明白，如此完美的剧本，必定会成为圈子里炙手可热的作品。 辛尼和妻子迈拉（黛恩·坎农 Dyan Cannon 饰）决定设计杀死安德森，将剧本据为己有，幸运的是，他们的诡计没能瞒住敏感的邻居海格（Irene Worth 饰）和精明的律师波特（亨瑞·琼斯 Henry Jones 饰），眼看着安德森一步一步的走向了死亡的陷阱，两人决定向其伸出援手。
