Stanley Moon (Dudley Moore) is a short order cook, infatuated with Margaret (Eleanor Bron), the statuesque waitress who works at Wimpy Bar with him. Despondent, he prepares to end it all when he meets George Spiggott, a.k.a. the Devil (Peter Cook). Selling his soul for seven wishes, Stanley tries to make Margaret his own first as an intellectual, then as a rock star, then as a wealthy industrialist. As each fails, he becomes more aware of how empty his life had been and how much more he has to live for. He also meets the seven deadly sins who try and advise him.