The American painter Jackson Pollock (1912-56) was a leading figure of the Abstract Expressionist movement. Pollock became famous not only as a vigorous technical innovator but also for his lifestyle, projecting an image of the hard-living, hard-drinking artist whose creative sensitivity is balanced by a tough machismo; his early death in a car crash set the seal on this legend. Making extensive use of contemporary footage of Pollock at work and of commentary from many of the artist's friends and associates, this film places the personal legend in a clear art-historical context. Pollock is shown practising his notorious 'drip-and-splash' manner of Action painting, in which he applied paint with sticks and syringes to a canvas laid flat on the ground. Works created by this apparently haphazard method were simultaneously vilified in the popular press and acclaimed by critics. Placing this controversy in perspective, the film surveys Pollock's career as a whole. The sense of restless personal quest accompanied Pollock's art from the beginning, and this film testifies to its continuing power to enthral.