Rod Hamilton, a wealthy jazz aficionado, is played by Richard Attenborough. He hosts a lavish one-year wedding anniversary party for Aurelius Rex, Paul Harris the bandleader and pianist, and Delia Lane, Marti Stevens a retired singer, in a Thames-side warehouse in London that he remodeled to host all-night parties and jam sessions because he can’t do it at his upscale Mayfair home.
Johnny Cousin, Rex’s drummer, has been trying to start his own band. He has arranged for Rod to fund the venture and has also attracted Lou Berger, Bernard Braden, a powerful booking agent, but both men’s support hinges on Johnny’s claim that Delia will be Rex’s vocalist. When Delia tells Johnny at the party that she has decided not to come out of retirement for fear of stirring tension in her marriage, Johnny launches a complex plan to break up the couple and secure the deal.
Johnny’s scheme centers on Cass Michaels, Keith Michell, an alto sax player in Rex’s band and Rex’s road manager. Johnny persuades Cass to smoke marijuana and then seeds doubt by telling him Berger doesn’t think he should manage Rex’s tour, which leads Cass to explode at Berger and ultimately gets Rex to fire him. Using Rod’s recording equipment, Johnny edits conversations between Cass and himself and between Cass and Delia to make it sound like Delia and Cass are involved. He drops hints to Rex that prey on his fear of losing Delia, and Delia’s rehearsed, party-only song further fuels Rex’s suspicions.
Rex, convinced by Johnny’s manipulated tape, confronts Delia, strangles her, and then assaults Cass when he tries to intervene, in front of the entire party. Rex accuses Delia and Cass of infidelity. Emily, Betsy Blair, Johnny’s long-suffering wife, asks Rex why he is behaving this way, and he tells her to ask Johnny. Emily breaks down and proclaims that Johnny is “a liar. He never told the truth in his whole life.” Benny, Cass’s girlfriend, María Velasco, pieces together that Cass was talking about Benny, not Delia, and the seriously injured Cass confirms it.
With Johnny’s plot exposed, he flees the room while Rex pursues. The bruised, but alive, Delia is spared from further harm as Benny arrives with Cass in an ambulance. The remaining guests depart; Johnny stays behind, noodling on the drums. Emily tells him it is time to go, and he mutters, “Don’t you understand, I don’t want to be loved...I love nobody. Don’t even love Johnny...Go find somebody else to love.” As Emily, and then Rod, exit, Johnny remains alone in the dim warehouse, pounding a frantic drum solo, while outside Rex and Delia walk along the embankment, their arms around each other.
> a liar. He never told the truth in his whole life.
Cass’s line, carried by the moment, is followed by the crowd leaving and the ambulance crying out in the distance, a stark reminder of the night’s shattered trust.
> Everything's cool
The scene closes with a quiet, uneasy balance between forgiveness and fatigue: Rex and Delia step into the night together, while the echoes of the party fade behind them and Johnny’s drums fade into the darkness. The film blends jazz ambience, a tense psychological gambit, and a trailing sense of melancholy as the characters navigate love, betrayal, and the price of manipulation. The live contributions of jazz greats pepper the atmosphere, with Dave Brubeck and John Dankworth among the on‑site performers, underscoring the music‑driven world that frames the drama, while Charles Mingus and other musicians make their presence felt in the background, lending an authentic rhythm to every charged moment. An unnamed Girl appears at the party as well, portrayed by Jennifer White, a subtle reminder of the layered world of fame, performance, and the unseen observers who populate Rod’s extravagant celebration.
