 Limping back on the street he tries to get drunk at a dance bar (The Metropole) and ends up hurting his neck when he throws down a shot.He stands on a bridge, contemplating jumping into the river.Meanwhile, in the frowzy Upper West Side apartment of divorced sportswriter Oscar Madison (Walter Matthau) on a hot and sticky summer evening, Oscar and his buddies Speed (Larry Haines), Roy (David Sheiner), Vinnie (John Fiedler), and policeman Murray (Herb Edelman) are playing poker and discussing their friend, Felix Ungar, who is unusually late for the game.