Save the Tiger

Harry Stoner wakes with a scream, haunted by memories of combat in World War II. He reenacts pre war Brooklyn Dodgers baseball games in his bedroom, signaling a chasm between past glory and present anxiety. His wife Janet urges him to seek help, while he explains that each morning costs money due to mortgage and expenses.

Stoner and his partner Phil Greene run Capri Casuals on the edge of collapse, aided only by fraudulent accounting. They quarrel over how to fund the new fashion line while a looming audit threatens exposure. The bank offers only half of what they need, forcing desperate calculations.

Driving to the office in a Lincoln Continental, Stoner picks up a free spirit hitchhiker named Myra on Sunset Strip. She flirts and asks to party, but he declines because he is late for work. The encounter highlights his craving for escape from mounting responsibilities.

Back at Capri Casuals, the impending fashion show for out of town buyers looms large. Stoner and Greene argue about financing and the need to present a viable line. With the bank offering only 50 percent, they fear financial ruin within the next two months.

Rejecting all legal avenues, Stoner proposes torching their Long Beach factory for an insurance payout. He questions whether Greene wants to be left out on the street and to search for a new job at his age. The suggestion marks a turning point toward naively dangerous schemes.

An important client arrives by train from Ohio, expecting the familiar arrangement with the local prostitute Margo. The past arrangements haunt the present as the client cavorts with Margo and a French speaking assistant, and then suffers an arterial occlusion. He is rushed by ambulance for emergency heart care.

Stoner takes the stage for Capri Casuals' premiere while still unsettled by war memories. He imagines injured soldiers in the audience, which unsettles both him and the crowd. The performance still manages to captivate the buyers despite his fragile demeanor.

The line's reception is strong but tempered by concern over Stoner's condition. Sid Fivush offers emergency financing backstage at a steep rate, giving Capri a temporary lifeline but underscoring the corrupting pressure of money.

Stoner and Greene secretly meet arsonist Charlie Robbins in the balcony of a blue movie theater. They provide a $2,500 retainer and give him the factory address and keys, planning to burn the target that night and funnel the flames into the upstairs space.

On leaving the theater, Stoner signs a petition to save the world's tigers, offering a public show of conscience that contrasts with the criminal plot taking shape behind the scenes. The juxtaposition highlights his tangled moral compass.

Stoner spends the night with Myra as she housesits, but he refuses sex and erupts in an incoherent rant that unsettles her. The encounter deepens his isolation and signals his unraveling control over his impulses.

The next day Robbins informs them that their warehouse is too far from compliance on fire safety and would not trigger an insurance payout. He suggests starting a fire in another business on the ground floor to funnel flames into their space, and Stoner agrees to proceed without Greene, asking Robbins to forget him if things go wrong.

Stoner encounters boys playing baseball in a field and walks onto the left field fence. He winds up and pitches a powerful throw, then tells the kids that he did it to let them see it once. A boy challenges him by saying that he cannot play with them, and Stoner smiles, lingering on the field as the moment ends.