Based on Marion Hart's play The Cellist, this film examines the interactions between inmates of a dingy boarding house maintained by the dour Mrs. Brent. Among them are busker Wanda Fleming, who is delighted by the attention she is receiving from rebellious pop songwriter want tobe Mickey Hollister, and former schoolteacher James Wallraven, who has been accused of pedophilia and forced to work as a janitor in an art museum.