Ed Crane is a quiet man living in Santa Rosa, California, in 1949. He runs a barber shop with his wife, Doris, whom he suspects is having an affair with her boss, Big Dave Brewster. Ed's life is dull and unfulfilling, and he feels like he's not really living it.
One day, a stranger comes to Ed's shop and offers him an opportunity to invest in a new technology that will revolutionize the dry-cleaning industry. Ed sees this as his chance to make a big change in his life and invests $10,000 in the project, hoping to use the profits to leave his wife and start a new life.
Meanwhile, Doris continues her affair with Dave, and Ed becomes increasingly desperate to get his hands on the money he needs to leave her. He hatches a plan to blackmail Dave by threatening to reveal his relationship with Doris, but the plan goes awry when Dave becomes violent and attacks Ed. In self-defense, Ed strangles Dave, and then disposes of the body in a lake outside of town.
As the investigation into Dave's disappearance intensifies, Ed becomes increasingly paranoid and guilt-ridden. He confesses his crime to a lawyer, but the lawyer is unable to do anything to help him. In the end, Ed is caught, tried, and convicted of murder. He is sentenced to death, and the movie ends with him being led to the electric chair.
Throughout the film, the themes of morality, justice, and the consequences of our decisions are explored through Ed's story. The bleak black-and-white cinematography and the slow pace of the movie add to the bleakness of the story and the sense of despair that pervades it.
