Marjorie, a poor girl who works in a large laundry, is shunned by her co-workers because of her unkempt appearance. Her parents and older brother are all lazy and out of work and live off Marjorie's meagre earnings. Marjorie tries to care for her little brother, who shares her philosophy of hard work, but she is frustrated that her business college education is of no use to them because she looks too disheveled to get an office job. When Florence, a girl more experienced in the world than Marjorie, invites her on a double date, Marjorie borrows clothes and has her hair done, hoping for a swell night on the town. Florence's companions take them to a cafe where liquor, drugs and anything else goes. Despite Florence's attempts to shelter Marjorie, she becomes drunk, tries a marijuana cigarette and becomes attracted to Tony Kilonis, whom Florence tells her is bad. Because she passes out at Florence's apartment and does not go home until morning, Marjorie's parents throw her out, preferring to live on relief than accept money from her. With nowhere else to go, she turns to Florence, who invites her to stay because Tony has ordered her to get Marjorie to come back--or else. The next day, Tony intimidates the owner of the laundry into firing the girls, and for the next two weeks they try unsuccessfully to get new jobs. When they are at the point of desperation, Florence suggests getting money from men, but Marjorie begs her not to do anything rash. Tony then takes Marjorie with him, promising to marry her. They go to his apartment instead of a justice of the peace, because it is late, and Marjorie spends the night, believing that they will be married the next day. She soon finds out he has been lying, though, and three months later they are still not married. Using threats, Tony now turns Marjorie into a hotel call girl. After a few months, the house detective has become suspicious of Marjorie, who goes by the name "Judy," and after an incident in which a customer calls the detective to arrest her for stealing his money, she can no longer go back. Tony now promises to take Marjorie up the coast "for a rest," but upon their arrival, they are greeted by Fat Pearl, the madame of a brothel, and Marjorie learns why Tony has taken her away. Because she is now pregnant, Marjorie refuses to work, so Pearl withholds food from her after Tony leaves. One of the older girls, Roz, takes pity on Marjorie, however, and lets her out of the house to hitchhike back to the city. Back at Tony's apartment, Marjorie hides when he arrives and hears him promise another girl the same things that he had promised her months before. When she sneaks into the living room and sees them making love on the couch, she is shocked and goes back into the bedroom where she takes Tony's gun out of a drawer. She then shoots them both and calls the police, hysterical over what has just happened. At her trial, which becomes a headline-grabbing sensation, Marjorie retells her story, and her attorney places a photograph into evidence that shows the compromising position of the bodies when they were shot. He asks them to find Marjorie not guilty because she was Tony's common law wife. During deliberations, the jury becomes hopelessly deadlocked, unable to decide whether Marjorie committed murder, whether it was justifiable homicide, or whether she is not guilty by reason of insanity.
