In Reno, Nevada, Roslyn Tabor (Monroe) is a 30-year-old woman who has just filed for a quickie six-week divorce from her inattentive husband Raymond (McCarthy). After leaving the Washoe County Courthouse, Roslyn ignores Raymond's attempts to talk to her, and meets with her best local friend and landlord, Isabelle Steers (Ritter), who is also a divorcee. Isabelle takes Roslyn to a bar at Harrah's Reno for drinks to let the reality of her divorce sink in. While there, they meet an aging cowboy named Gaylord 'Gay' Langland (Gable) and his tow truck driver friend Guido (Wallach). They invite Roslyn and Isabelle to Guido's old house in the Nevada country to help her forget about the divorce, after Gay tells Roslyn that he is also divorced. They arrive at the unfinished house Guido built for his late wife, who died several years earlier during childbirth. They drink and dance. Roslyn has too much to drink, so Gay drives her home to Reno.