Over a meal in a French restaurant, Sy poses a conundrum to his fellow diners: Is the essence of life comic or tragic? For the sake of argument, he tells a story, which the others then embellish to illustrate their takes on life. The story starts as follows: A young Manhattan couple, Park Avenue princess Laurel and tippling actor Lee, throw a dinner party to impress Lee's would-be producer when their long-lost friend Melinda appears at their front door, bedraggled and woebegone. In the tragic version of what happens next, the beautiful intruder is a disturbed woman who got bored with her Midwestern doctor-husband and dumped him for a photographer. Her husband took the children away and she spiraled into a suicidal depression that landed her straight-jacketed in a mental ward. In the comic version, Melinda is childless and a downstairs neighbor to the dinner hosts, who are ambitious Indy filmmaker Susan and under-employed actor Hobie. Back and forth the stories go, contrasting the destinies of the two Melindas.

Robert Downey Jr. was cast, but dropped from the film, because the actor's insurance premium was too costly to meet.

Hobie:
What? What's going on? Wait, all? we used to make love all the time and now, there's always an excuse.


Susan:
I told you, I'm going through an emotionally difficult time creatively.


Hobie:
You feel like we don't communicate anymore?


Susan:
Of course we communicate. Now can we not talk about it anymore?

Crew or equipment visible: In one of the beginning scenes for the "drama" version of Melinda's tale the battery pack for her microphone creates a very noticeable bulge in the lower back of her shirt. Whenever she stands up from leaning on the kitchen table the bulge turns into the shape of a square.

(1946)
Written by Igor Stravinsky
Performed by English Chamber Orchestra
Conductor Colin Davis
Courtesy of Decca Music Group Limited
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises