An account of the rise and fall of a silent film comic, Billy Bright. The movie begins with his funeral, as he speaks from beyond the grave in a bitter tone about his fate, and takes us through his fame, as he ruins it with womanizing and drink, and his fall, as a lonely, bitter old man unable to reconcile his life's disappointments. The movie is based loosely on the life of Buster Keaton.

Dick Van Dyke
as Billy Bright

Michele Lee
as Mary Gibson

Mickey Rooney
as Cockeye

Cornel Wilde
as Frank Powers

Nina Wayne
as Sybil Atlas

Pert Kelton
as Mama Bell

Steve Allen
as Steve Allen

Barbara Heller
as Ginger

Ed Peck
as Edwin G. Englehardt

Jeannine Riley
as Lorraine Bell