Duddy Kravitz (Richard Dreyfuss) is a brash, restless young Judaism man growing up poor in Montreal. His cab driver father Max (Jack Warden) and his rich uncle Benjy (Joseph Wiseman) are very proud of Duddy's older brother Lenny, whom Benjy is putting through medical school. Only his grandfather (Zvee Scooler) shows the motherless Duddy any attention.