Allan Newell is a Seattle university student who works at a phone-in crisis clinic. The calls he receives are for the most part routine - an unhappy barber who feels he gets no respect, for example - but he then gets a call from a suicidal woman, Inga,who claims to have already taken an overdose of barbiturates. Through flashbacks, we learn of the events that have led her to attempt to take her own life. Her husband learned that their child is not his and her marriage is on rocky ground. As the telephone company attempts to trace the call and the police try to locate her, Allen works desperately to keep her on the line.

Originally titled "Cross My Heart And Hope To Die" and slated to star Elizabeth Ashley (who was forced to drop out over contract dispute)

Factual errors: After Inga attempts suicide by drowning herself in the bay, she arrives at hospital with perfectly styled hair.