As once-great Tinseltown icon Margaret Elliot (Bette Davis) moves into her 50s, she finds her career and personal life in shambles. Divorced, out of work for years and running out of cash, the dejected Margaret goes on a bender and gets tossed in the drunk tank. Ex-actor Jim Johansson (Sterling Hayden) bails her out and exhorts her to quit Hollywood, but when she lands an audition, Margaret clings to the desperate notion of staging a comeback.