Suspense

Joe Morgan drifts into Los Angeles from New York and struggles to land a job. He hopes to reconnect with an acquaintance named Max, but is quickly turned away. Scruffy and broke, he learns of a theater featuring an ice show that will set the stage for his entry into Roberta Elva's world.

At Max's direction, he goes to the theater where Roberta Elva performs and meets the theater's assistant Harry Wheeler and owner Frank Leonard. Leonard hires him to sell peanuts at the show, placing him inside the show's orbit. Morgan begins to glimpse Roberta from afar.

Morgan watches Roberta's performance and is instantly drawn to her. He tries to strike up a conversation after the show, but Leonard drives her away. Harry later informs him that Roberta and Leonard are married.

Morgan suggests a new act for the show that would involve Roberta leaping through a circle of long knives. Leonard is impressed enough to promote Morgan to a managerial position. This marks his rise within the theater's hierarchy.

Roberta rejects Morgan's advances and becomes angry after he kisses her in his office. Leonard then leaves Morgan in charge of the theater while he goes to Chicago on a business trip.

Morgan continues to pursue Roberta, who remains wary but gradually softens. Ronnie, a jilted girlfriend from Chicago, breaks into Morgan's apartment and informs him she has moved in across the hall.

Leonard returns from his Chicago trip and begins to suspect the affair. He takes Roberta on a winter vacation to his remote mountain cabin, and Morgan shows up under a ruse for a chance to see Roberta.

The next morning, Leonard sneaks up the mountainside with a hunting rifle and shoots at Morgan, triggering an avalanche that carries him away. Roberta and Morgan return to Los Angeles, with Roberta heartbroken and unsettled by the sense of being watched.

Back in Los Angeles, Roberta is heartbroken but the show continues with Morgan's name now in lights atop the marquee. The couple's relationship grows more strained as Morgan becomes distant and suspicious of Leonard's fate.

Over the next few months, Morgan grows paranoid that Leonard did not die in the avalanche. He discovers Leonard's ring in Roberta's champagne glass at a party at Roberta's penthouse, fueling his suspicions and jealousy in Ronnie's wake.

Ronnie grows increasingly jealous and pushes Max to dig into Morgan's past in New York. A shadowy figure approaches Morgan in his office late at night, and Roberta hears sounds of a struggle from outside the room.

Harry visits to find the cause of the ruckus and notices red stuff on Morgan's jacket. Roberta grows suspicious as she learns Leonard's pipes were custom made, hinting at secrets in Morgan's past.

Roberta goes to the basement to investigate and is confronted by Morgan. He confesses that he killed Leonard and had his body incinerated, shocking her with the truth he has kept hidden.

Roberta pleads that he confess, but Morgan refuses. He then sabotages her act by loosening one of the long knives, only to have a moment of hesitation and yank the prop away, fleeing backstage as Ronnie confronts him.

Ronnie shoots Morgan to death in the confrontation, and the lights spelling Joe Morgan on the theater marquee go black as the screen pulls away from the tragedy.