You Play the Black and the Red Comes Up defies easy summary. When Dick’s wife runs off with their son, he hops the rails and follows them to Southern California. Broke, he agrees to participate in a fake holdup that leaves somebody really dead. While on the run he meets Mamie, a tippling divorcee, and holes up with her. Her friend Patsy has cooked up a pyramid-scheme-like religion, and with the help of flamboyant movie director Quentin Genter, the cult catches on. After marrying Mamie, Dick falls for the mysterious Sheila. When Mamie blackmails Dick into staying with her, it sets off a chain reaction of twists and turns.