Henry King

A successful, but disillusioned, writer (Peck) who is near death from gangrene in his leg, reviews his life in an attempt to find meaning in the sum of his experiences.

Roger and his friend Charlie audition at a saloon in San Francisco's Barbary Coast. The number "Alexander's ragtime band" proves to be a sensation. Charlie soon falls in love with Stella who is the singer of the band. When Roger returns from World War I, he meets Stella and learns she and Charlie have married.