Man and his partner, a photographer, start up a men's magazine called "Pagan." The magazine becomes a success, he leaves his fiancee, marries his star model, and complications ensue.
Hoping to advance his career, genial portrait photographer Ken Carter (Harvey Korman) accepts work from John V. 'Jack' Norwall (William Kerwin), the shady editor of 'Newlywed' magazine. After the publication of Ken's first cover, a photograph of a couple being chased by a man with a shotgun, the publisher fires John, who vows to start his own magazine full of imagination, humor and sex.
At home, John's fiancée Diane (Linné Ahlstrand), urges him to marry her that weekend, prompting John to take money from her purse and leave angrily. Planning his cheesecake magazine, which he has titled 'Pagan', John searches for inspiration, and while wandering drunkenly, finds it in a statue of the Venus de Milo he sees in a store window. After stealing the statue, he heads to the nearest bar, where he notes the similarity between Venus and his waitress, Peggy Brandon (Danica D'Hondt). Promising to make her a star, John brings Peggy to Ken's studio and they shoot artful, nude pictures of her. John labels her "The Living Venus," and uses the photographs to search for backers for the magazine.
After everyone rejects him, John convinces Ken to pawn his extra camera to pay for a typewriter, and Ken agrees, in exchange for part of the profits. Finally John manages to convince disreputable publisher Max Stein (Lawrence J. Aberwood) to finance them, and he sets out to hire more models. Soon after, Diane calls John and begs him to come to their wedding, which she has arranged for that weekend. John mutters that he will try to make it, but soon forgets, and on Saturday Diane and her father go to his apartment. There, John accuses Diane of being a tramp, after which her father punches John and drags a crying Diane away.
The first issue of Pagan is a big success, and John secures two years' worth of financing. He then tries to seduce Peggy, who despite her attraction to him, holds him at bay, knowing he is a roué. Meanwhile, Ken is also falling in love with Peggy, and one day asks her to marry him. She informs John, and when he proposes, she assumes that he loves her, not realizing that he merely wants to have control over her for the good of the magazine.
Returning to his office, John hires photographer Geoffrey Page (Lee Hauptman), then fires Ken, who punches him and leaves. Soon, John pressures Peggy to stop modeling and become his "promotions manager," a position in which she will seduce clients into buying advertising. Although Peggy realizes that John does not love her, she agrees, quickly turning to alcohol to make her "job" less repellent.
As the magazine's sales soar, both John and Geoff begin dallying with the models and paying less attention to work. While Ken's career as a high fashion photographer blossoms, Pagan's sales begin to slip. One day, a drunken Peggy walks by Ken's photo shoot, and although he urges her to call him if she needs him, she is ashamed and runs off. She stumbles into John's staff meeting, in which he is berating the staff for his own failures, and when she confronts him, he slaps her. She begs him for help, but he calls her an alcoholic and walks away.
A few weeks later, John is readying for Pagan's two-year anniversary party when Max arrives. After announcing that he will no longer finance the magazine, Max the publisher advises John to try to win Ken back. John goes ahead with his party, and when Peggy shows up, sober and still in love with him, he again rejects her cruelly. No one at the raucous event notices as Peggy drinks all night and drowns in the pool. At her funeral, Max brings Ken, whom he has hired to take over John's position.
Alone and jobless, John walks by the same storefront window where he first noticed the Venus statue and raves that he will start a new magazine and show them all, then collapses, sobbing.
