J. J. Hunsecker (Burt Lancaster) is a very strong newspaper columnist in New York who has had success. He supports or ruins famous people in his writings, and eats out with others and obtains any women he desires. Sidney Falco (Tony Curtis) is a publicist who is very ambitious and loathes himself but wants to gain Hunsecker’s notice and attention because it will benefit him professionally. But Hunsecker will not deal with Falco because Falco hasn’t come through on his promises. Then Hunsecker wants Falco to get rid of Steve Dallas (Martin Milner), his sister Susan’s (Susan Harrison) lover, because Hunsecker has no one else.