"Papillon", un hombre condenado por asesinato, es enviado a un penal de la Guayana francesa. Durante el viaje en barco, conoce a Luis Dega, falsificador de Bonos de la Defensa Nacional, un hombre débil, al que "Papillon" ofrece protección a cambio del dinero que necesita para huir de la cárcel.
A Vietnam vet, Jud Carney. returns to Los Angeles at Christmas time, finds out it's not how he thought it was going to be. When Jud discovers his fiancee has left him, he moves into a boarding house peopled with "types." Flashback memories of the war and the suicide of fellow house resident, reduce Jud to a broken and bitter man.
