强盗西格因分赃不均被同伙追杀，情急中跑到哥哥查理工作的酒吧避难--查理是那里的一位钢琴师。查理帮西格脱了身。但第二天两个追债的强盗却找到了查理，并要挟他说出西格的下落。酒吧女招待雷娜急中生智引来了警察，两人才得以逃脱。在雷娜的家里，查理讲出了自己不为人知的往事……

  Francois Truffaut is drunk on the possibilities of cinema in this, his most playful, anarchic film. Part thriller, part comedy, part tragedy, Shoot the Piano Player relates the adventures of the mild-mannered piano player Charlie (Charles Aznavour, in a triumph of hangdog deadpan) as he stumbles into the criminal underworld and a whirlwind love affair. Loaded with gags, guns, clowns, and thugs, this razor-sharp homage to the American gangster film is pure nouvelle vague.