- After some truly groovy 1940's opening credits, we begin with a shot of New York City. The camera pans across the skyline in a steady arc.
- In the foreground, we see a building with three open windows and what looks like a bottle on a rope hanging out of the third. As it happens, that's the window we zoom in on.
- There are two men packing suitcases inside, one of whom keeps peeking out the window. His name's Don.
- Through their conversation, we learn that they're packing for a weekend getaway to the country. The other guy (who's more clean-cut than Don) is psyched. His name is Wick.
- Suddenly, Don announced that he's going to "get started on that novel" and asks Wick to grab his typewriter from the closet. Very enthusiastic, this one.
- Wick, surprised, explains that he didn't think Don would be up for writing. Don angrily states that he "hasn't touched the stuff for ten days" but doesn't give us any further detail.
- As soon as Wick leaves to get the typewriter, Don makes for the window and grabs the bottle. Ah, okay—he's an alcoholic and the window is his hiding spot.
- Don struggles but can't detach the bottle from the rope. Wick can't find the typewriter, so Don returns the bottle to its hiding spot before he returns.
- Donny Boy is ticked off that his plot was foiled, but he still "finds" the typewriter under his bed to keep up appearances
- Oh—they're brothers. That's an important fact to know.
- Suddenly, the bell rings and a pretty lady in a leopard print coat enters. Her name is Helen and she's looking for Don.
- She gives Don a little care package to take on his trip. How sweet.
- Unfortunately, she's got to run—her coworkers gave her two tickets to a concert tonight. She'll just be using one of them, but she doesn't want to be late.
- Don suggests that he and Wick take a later train so Helen won't have to go alone. Although Wick is hesitant, he agrees after realizing that they're going to miss the early train anyway.
- To our surprise, however, Don says that he wants Wick to go with Helen. Huh? Everyone is pretty skeptical of this, which seems understandable from where we're sitting.
- Wick finally agrees to go and tosses his cigarette out of the window, although it ends up landing on the windowsill. You can probably guess where this is headed...
- When he goes to toss it out, he notices Don's bottle-on-a-rope. Don claims that he must have hidden it there during his "last spell" but doesn't remember it. Riiiight.
- Wick pours the booze down the drain while Don whines and moans like a two-year-old throwing a tantrum. After a bit of this, Wick and Helen finally leave.
- As soon as they do, Don puts the chain lock on the door and starts tearing apart the apartment, desperately trying to locate a secret stash. No luck.
- Suddenly, the door opens. Uh oh, Donny boy! To his relief, it's only Mrs. Foley, his brother's cleaning lady.
- He tells her to head home, but she asks for her wages before she leaves. She explains that Wick typically leaves the money in a sugar container in the kitchen.
- Don finds the money, but tells Mrs. Foley that it wasn't there. She leaves. A few minutes later, he does too, a fresh ten dollar bill in hand.