The setting is Vienna. A young American woman is brought to a hospital after overdosing on pills, apparently in a suicide attempt. A police detective suspects foul play on the part of her lover, an American psychology professor. As doctors try to save her life, the detective interrogates the professor, and through flashbacks we see the events leading up to the woman's overdose; her stormy and intensely sexual relationship with the professor, her heavy drinking and numerous affairs, and her estrangement from her Czech husband. A darkly erotic study of several rather unsympathetic characters.

The film did not find favour with the Rank Organisation, one executive calling it "a sick film made by sick people for sick people". As a result, Rank's logo was removed from all UK release prints.

Alex Linden:
You tell the truth about a lie so beautifully.

Sung by Vernon Midgely