Jeff Dawson (Gary Cooper) is a hapless oil speculator in South America whose misadventures reunite him with an old friend, Ward 'Paco' Conway (Anthony Quinn). Unfortunately for Jeff, Paco's wife is bad-news, man-eating Marina (Barbara Stanwyck), the lover Jeff ran away from years...
Just before Christmas, Lee Leander is caught shoplifting. It is her third offense. She is prosecuted by John Sargent. He postpones the trial because it is hard to get a conviction at Christmas time. But he feels sorry for her and arranges for her bail, and ends up taking her home to his moth...