Ace reporter Gale Gayley, literally falls into the story of a lifetime when she's a passenger on an airplane that crashes into a Chicago bridge. In the smoke and darkness, she's saved by a rude, foul-mouthed ₁hero,₂ who promptly disappears into the night leaving only one shoe behind. When Gale's TV station offers a million dollars to the mystery hero, a gentle Vietnam vet appears to claim the prize and share it with the city's homeless.