Journalist Johnny Barrett is out to solve a murder at an insane asylum but the only way he can do so is to have himself committed to the institution and solve the crime from the inside. He spends a full year being coached by professionals to convince psychiatrists that he is a fetishist who desires his sister sexually. Posing as his sister, his girlfriend Cathy files a complaint with the police leading to Johnny's arrest and eventual committal. Once inside he encounters a variety of mental patients but learns that there were three witnesses to the murder of the patient named Sloan. The first was Stuart who thinks he's a Confederate general. In a lucid moment he tells Johnny that the killer wore white pants, meaning the killer is either a doctor or an attendant. The second patient, Trent, is an African-American who hates blacks and in his mind is a member of the KKK. He can't identify the killer but the third witness, Boden, tells him exactly who the killer is. Unfortunately for Johnny his own mental condition has been deteriorating and is now behaving erratically, to the point that even when the doctors learn of the deception, they're not sure they can release him.—garykmcd