| Director | Irvin Kershner |
|---|---|
| Budget | $3 million |
| Box office | $1.8 million |
Poet Samson Shillitoe lives in Greenwich Village with his wife Rhoda, a waitress who supports him through all his troubles. When Samson cannot find the inspiration to finish his latest poem, he becomes belligerent and depressed. He is continually pursued by a debt collector after his late alimony payments to a previous wife. He assaults a police detective who accompanies the debt collector.
Samson loses his job as an office cleaner for intimate relations with a secretary but earns $200 for a recital of his poetry to a women's group that ends in disaster.
Without Samson's knowledge, Rhoda seeks the help of psychiatrist Dr. West, who claims to be able to cure writer's block, paying him with Samson's $200. She fears that Samson will become suicidal if he cannot finish his poem. West reluctantly agrees to see him, and when Samson confronts the doctor about the return of his money, West is fascinated by Samson and persuades him to become a patient. West arranges a stay for Samson in an upstate sanitarium in order to escape the chaotic city.
Dr. Menken, a doctor at the sanitarium, wishes to experiment on Samson with a new surgical technique he has used primarily on chimpanzees that might quell his violent temper. Menken lies to Rhoda to persuade her to agree to the surgery. West and two other colleagues vehemently oppose the lobotomy as unsuitable for humans.
West's wife Lydia is frustrated with their marriage. West is a popular TV guest for his pop psychiatric methods and views, and she sees very little of him. She meets Samson at the sanitorium. Samson does not know that she is married to West but remembers her from the women's club lecture. Samson seduces her and West discovers them frolicking together naked in a hydrotherapy tub. This causes a vengeful West to reverse himself and cast the deciding vote in favor of the surgery.
Lydia learns of the plan and rushes to stop it, but she arrives just after it has been completed. The operation has no effect, and Samson punches Menken when he comes out of anesthesia. Samson returns to New York resumes his belligerence, and his obsession with finishing his poem. Rhoda rushes to rejoin him. Samson is served with a subpoena, forcing him to pay his ex-wife or go to jail. He once again assaults the process server and his police escort, but Lydia appears and pays the debt.
She tells him she is leaving her husband and wants to be with him. When he invites her to move in with him and his wife, she is offended and stalks out.
Rhoda informs Samson that she is pregnant. At her invitation, he punches her square in the face on a city street, attracting an outraged mob which assails them until their retreat into the doorway of their apartment building.