It was directed by Robert Ellis Miller from a screenplay by producer Julius J. Epstein based on the play of the same name by Muriel Resnik, which ran on Broadway for 983 performances from 1964 to 1966.

On one day of each week, Wednesday, he spends the night in the city, lying to wife Dorothy (Rosemary Murphy) that he is out of town on business when he actually is seeing Ellen, his mistress (Jane Fonda).

A business client from Akron, Ohio, Cass Henderson (Dean Jones), comes to town and is unable to find a hotel room for the night.

[3][6] Richard F. Shepard of The New York Times was fairly positive, writing that the story had made the transition from stage to screen "not much the worse for wear," though he felt "it might have been better if it were shorter.

In the case of Robards, a superior actor whenever he is permitted to be, I must admit to some surprise that he was willing to waste his time and talents on such a contrived and cinematically weak affair as this.