In order to teach naïve writer Adam White (Montgomery Clift) that life's not always a bowl of cherries, his cynical editor (Robert Ryan) assigns him to the "Miss Lonelyheart" relationship advice column. Business becomes pleasure as Adam gets a little too involved in his readers' lives, particularly Fay Doyle's (Maureen Stapleton, in her screen debut and an Oscar-nominated role), who has not made love to her handicapped husband for years.