Alcoholic Cleveland housewife Cassie Barrett is institutionalized in a psychiatric ward after experiencing a nervous breakdown in the supermarket.

We learn this is the latest in a series of hospitalizations from which Cassie emerges supposedly in control of her life but actually still teetering on the edge.

During this latest stay, she develops a romantic crush on psychiatrist Edwin Alexander and a close relationship with night supervisor Tinkerbell, both of whom help her take steps toward facing her inner demons and learning to live with sobriety.

In The New York Times, John J. O'Connor wrote:The Cracker Factory, adapted by Richard Shapiro from a novel by Joyce Rebeta‐Burdit, involves a “short‐term rehabilitative psychiatric center” in Cleveland.

But it also has offbeat compassion and surprising moments of humor, all held together with solid performances, with Miss Wood providing the crucial dramatic spark.