Jenny (played by Susan Strasberg) is a deaf runaway child who arrives in San Francisco, California Haight-Ashbury district, searching for her brother Steve. She encounters Stoney (Jack Nicholson) and his hippie band "Mumblin' Jim" in a café. The boys are sympathetic, especially when they discover that she is deaf and uses lip reading. They hide her from the police and help her look for her brother. She has a postcard from him which reads "Jess Saes: God is alive and well and living in a sugar cube". The band is approached by a promoter who arranges for them to perform at "the Ballroom".