自从妻子死后,弗雷德(东尼·卡斯 Ton Kas 饰)一直过着独居的寂寞生活,每天的作息时间几乎分秒不差,他本人则像被上了发条的机器人那样,对生活燃不起丝毫的热情与兴趣。就是这样一个人,在某一天,他与名叫席欧(雷内·凡特·霍夫 René van 't Hof 饰)的流浪汉相遇了,在阴差阳错之中,这个满脑子奇思妙想总是不按常理出牌的席欧住进了弗雷德的屋子,开始了和弗雷德的共同生活。
一次偶然中,弗雷德发现他和席欧共同表演的“动物模仿秀”竟然在儿童之间大受欢迎,新世界的大门就此打开,弗雷德和席欧之间逐渐产生了犹如家人一般的亲情。然而,随着时间的推移,街坊邻里之间关于席欧的议论愈演愈烈,这个神秘男人背后的秘密也逐渐揭开。
An ambitious newspaper reporter (Dick Powell), eager to scoop the competition, wishes he could know the news before it happens. A mysterious old man (John Philliber) grants the reporter that power, even as he cautions against using it. Now able to predict the news 24 hours in advance, the reporter goes about scooping all the other papers, picking sure-fire winners at the race track, and enjoying life... until he learns -- in advance, of course -- of his own death. Our hero's problem How can he keep the future from happening(imdb) 主人公每天晚上都收到一份次日早上出版的报纸,他获悉自己在数小时内即将毙命,然而他却幸存下来了。(乔治·萨杜尔《世界电影史》)