Overview: Actor and former box office gold Francis Rushmore finds his career in sharp decline. While drowning his sorrows in a tavern he eavesdrops on two men who are plotting the murder of influential but much loathed agent Michael Semmes. Rushmore then launches a valiant effort to warn Semmes of the unfolding plot, unaware that he has ordered everyone to give Rushmore the "run around" to prevent him from begging for acting work.