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In
Monterey, California, paisano Danny Alvarez inherits a gold watch and two
houses in the area known as Tortilla Flat from his grandfather.
Because Danny is in jail for public drunkenness, his friends, Pilon and
Pablo, convince jailer Tito Ralph to "parole" Danny to celebrate and invite
Tito to come along. Pilon warns Danny that property and watches bring
unwanted responsibilities and cajoles him into selling the watch for some
wine.
On the way to celebrate in one of the houses, Danny meets
Dolores Ramirez, a "Portagee" girl to whom Danny is attracted and names
"Sweets." During the party, Pilon talks Danny into renting the other
house to him, then convinces Pablo to live with him and pay the fifteen
dollars rent.
The next day, while Danny serves out the rest of his jail
term, Pilon and Pablo find Portagee Joe and Jose Maria Corcoran drunk in the
back yard and invite them to live in the house for the three dollars which
Jose Maria has. That night, Danny goes to see Sweets, who likes Danny,
but has ambitions for a husband, a home and children who don't have to pick
beans for a living. When Pablo summons Danny because Pilon's house is
on fire, Danny does not care and passionately kisses Sweets, but she throws
him out after threatening him with a knife.
After the fire, Pilon and the other paisanos, accompanied by
a young widower with a baby they met watching the fire, go to Danny's house.
Because the baby is starving, Danny goes to Sweets to get milk from her
goats and, seeing how gentle Sweets is with the baby, Danny becomes even
more smitten.
The next morning, Pilon worries about paying his rent and
becomes intrigued by The Pirate, a shabby old man who lives with several
dogs in a chicken coop. Pilon surmises that Pirate must be a miser
because he sells twenty-five cents worth of wood each day, yet never spends
anything. Hoping to get Pirate's money, Pilon convinces the old man to
come and live at Danny's, saying that his friends worry about him.
Meanwhile, Danny visits Sweets at the sardine cannery where
she works and gets into a scuffle with the foreman when he is told to leave.
Walking by the bay, Danny sees a small fishing boat for sale for $210, then
goes to pawn his guitar in exchange for a vacuum cleaner for Sweets.
Back at home, Danny is not happy that Pirate and "his boys" are new tenants
until Pilon tells him about Pirate's money. Danny then confesses to
Pilon that he needs money to buy a boat.
The next day, when Pirate reveals that he needs one thousand
quarters to buy a gold candlestick for St. Francis, which he had promised
the saint if one of his dogs recovered from a serious illness, Pilon is
ashamed and resolves to safeguard Pirate's bag of quarters. Now
knowing that he has no other choice, Danny gets a job at the cannery.
When Pilon finds out, he knows that it is because of Sweets and fears that
she will make the paisanos leave the house if she marries Danny. Pilon
lies to Danny that she has been bragging that they are engaged, then steals
the vacuum and uses it to buy wine.
That night, Sweets angrily accuses Danny of the theft and he
counters by accusing her of spreading a story about their engagement.
She then slaps him and orders him out. Meanwhile, at the house, after
Portagee Joe takes six quarters from Pirate's bag, an angry Pilon recounts
the money and discovers that Pirate has more than enough to buy the
candlestick. When Danny comes home, he knocks Pilon down when Pilon
insults Sweets, then grabs a jug of wine and leaves.
The next day, after washing and grooming Pirate, the paisanos
take him to church to see the candlestick and hear Father Juan Ramon, who
gives a sermon about the candlestick and the miracle of Pirate's dog's
recovery. That same morning, a drunken Danny goes to the cannery to
see Sweets and is again told to leave. In a fight with several
foremen, Danny is accidentally crushed in one of the machines.
Later, at the hospital, Pilon learns that Danny's lung has
been punctured and he is near death. When Sweets hysterically lashes
out at Pilon, he goes to the woods and overhears Pirate telling his dogs
about the sermon. Pilon then goes to the church, where his prayers to
St. Francis are overheard by Father Juan, who is touched when Pilon offers
to buys another candlestick if Danny gets well.
Some time later, Father Juan finds Pilon cutting squid and
tells him that "someone's prayers have been answered" because Danny is much
better. Father Juan adds that Sweets is sorry for her anger and that
all of his friends are worried. As the priest leaves, he says that St.
Francis does not need another candlestick but would be grateful if Danny
somehow had a boat.
Some time later, Danny and Sweets are married, and a raffle
is held for Danny's guitar. Unknown to all but Father Jaun, Pilon
himself paid for the tickets, and the money was used to buy Danny the boat.
That night, as Pilon and the paisanos drink in Danny's house, Pilon
concludes that it was the house that caused all of Danny's troubles.
When a fire accidentally starts, the paisanos decide to sleep on the beach
and let the house burn. |
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