An artist, Robert Pickman, becomes obsessed by visions of unworldly horror, revealed to him through an ancient artifact discovered in an abandoned church.
Acting Lieutenant Hornblower attempts to study for his promotion examination, but becomes distracted by the serious supply problems that face his crew.
In the Golden Age of Hollywood, two men had it all; one was a top screenwriter, the other a film idol. But when the witch hunts of McCarthyism swept into Tinseltown, it drove one out of the country and the other to suicide.