Summary of the plot
One evening, after hearing the words of Maxwell H. Brock, a poet performing at The Yellow Door café, the obtuse, impressionable busboy Walter Paisley returns home and attempts to create a sculpture of the hostess Carla's face. He pauses when he hears the meowing of Frankie, the cat of his nosy landlady Mrs. Surchart, who has somehow become entangled in Walter's wall. Walter tries to free Frankie with a knife, but he accidentally kills the cat when he stabs the knife into the wall. Instead of giving Frankie a proper burial, Walter covers the cat with clay and leaves the knife stuck in it.
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Maxwell recites poetry with saxophone accompaniment in a beatnik coffeehouse.
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Carla and Leonard admire Walter's "sculpture", the dead cat.
The next morning, Walter shows the cat to Carla and his boss Leonard. Leonard rejects the strangely morbid work, but Carla is delighted and persuades Leonard to display it in the café. Walter receives praise from Will and the other beatniks in the café. An admirer, Naolia, gives him a vial of heroin to remind him of her. Without knowing what it is for, he takes it home and is followed by Lou Raby, an undercover agent, who wants to arrest him for drug possession. In a blind panic, believing Lou is about to shoot him, Walter hits him with the frying pan he is holding and kills Lou on the spot.
Meanwhile, Walter's boss discovers the secret of Walter's "dead cat" part when he sees fur sticking out of it. The next morning, Walter tells the café patrons that he has a new piece, which he calls Murdered Man. Both Leonard and Carla accompany Walter to the unveiling of his latest work and are both amazed and horrified. Carla criticizes it as "vile and eloquent" and worthy of a public exhibition. Leonard is horrified by the idea, but recognizes the potential for riches if he plays his cards right.
The next evening, Walter is treated like royalty by almost everyone, with the exception of a blonde model called Alice, who is very unpopular with her colleagues. Walter later follows her home and confronts her, explaining that he wants to pay her for her modeling work. In Walter's apartment, Alice strips naked and sits down on a chair, where Walter strangles her with her scarf. Walter makes a statue of Alice which, when unveiled, impresses Brock so much that he throws a party at the Yellow Door in Walter's honor. Dressed as a carnival jester, Walter is entertained to excess.
After the party, Walter later stumbles into his apartment. Still drunk, he decapitates a factory worker with his own circular saw to make a bust. When he shows Leonard the head, the boss realizes he must stop Walter's murderous rampage and promises Walter an exhibition to get rid of his latest "sculptures". At the exhibition, Walter proposes to Carla, but she rejects him.
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