Classic film noir rules when down-in-the-dumps musician Al Roberts (Tom Neal) decides to hitchhike cross-country to be with his chanteuse girlfriend. He accepts a lift from high-roller Charles Haskell Jr. (Edmund MacDonald), who promptly suffers a fatal coronary. Afraid the cops will finger him as a killer, Al ditches the body and assumes Haskell's identity. But Al's trip quickly goes downhill when he picks up a scheming hitchhiker (Ann Savage).