Synopsis

This is the story of the happenings at a major bank. The first of which, is that bank President Ben Rosselli (Leonardo Cimino) announces that he is dying, and that with no heir to take his place, he informs the bank's officers that he is letting them choose a successor. The two Vice Presidents, who are the front runners for the job, are Alex Vandervoort (Kirk Douglas) and Roscoe Heyward (Christopher Plummer). Now Alex is not exactly running around looking for support, and Roscoe can only see the benefits the Presidency can give him. So he goes around looking for people who would like to do business with the bank. He goes to George Quartermain (Lorne Greene), who wants the bank to give him more than they are allowed. While most of the board are excited of the possibility of going into business with Quartermain, Alex is the only one who is weary of it, as it's a big risk. Alex is not popular also because, while his wife Celia (Marisa Pavan) is mentally ill and confined to an asylum, he is having an affair with a lawyer, who specializes in helping the disadvantaged, the bank was originally supposed to fund a project to help them, but has pulled out, and Alex is also asking them not to. Also, the bank is plagued with false credit cards being circulated, so the bank's security officer, who was hired by Alex is not having much luck in finding them, which is another reason why Alex is not so popular.