When two hit men walk into a diner asking for a man called 'the Swede' (Burt Lancaster), the killers are surprised to find he's expecting them – and doesn't put up a fight.
Since the Swede had a life insurance policy, an investigator (Edmond O'Brien), on a hunch, decides to look into the murder. As the Swede's past is laid bare, it comes to light that he was in love with beautiful but deadly moll Kitty Collins (Ava Gardner), who may have lured him into pulling off the bank robbery that set his demise into motion.
