Sgt. Joe Fitzpatrick, Glenn Ford, marries Maggie Putnam, a feisty nightclub showgirl Debbie Reynolds. The day after the wedding, Joe is shipped off to a base in Spain, and Maggie receives a gleaming surprise: a bright red 1955 Lincoln Futura Concept with bucket seats and a clear bubble top, won in a raffle. She writes him a letter saying she has a wonderful surprise she’s bringing, and he can’t help but wonder if she means she’s pregnant.
When Maggie finally reaches Spain, a party is held in her honor, and the surprise is sprung on her. She denies pregnancy, but she doesn’t openly explain the surprise, leaving Joe to read between the lines. The car arrives with mixed feelings: he’s surprised, yet pleased, and the image of this highly distinctive vehicle presses against the more ordinary realities of military life.
Early on, the brass deliver a stiff reminder not to appear ostentatious in front of locals, a message that lingers as the couple tours around a country that views the car with envy and suspicion. The car’s conspicuous presence draws attention from officials and fans alike, and soon the Air Force asks that it be sent home at their expense. Joe frets about rocking Maggie’s world—she already resents the way the Air Force meddles in their life—and he worries this move could blunt their tenuous happiness.
A deepening financial strain emerges when the IRS demands about $17,000 in taxes for the vehicle, a sum they cannot pay. Facing a tax bill they can’t meet, the couple contemplates selling the car to a famous Spanish bullfighter, a plan that might soothe some pressures but runs into military regulations about selling personal property to locals. The Air Force discovers the sale idea, and Joe finds himself arrested and confined to quarters as a result, further widening the rift between husband and wife.
The pair have already drifted apart, and a lavish party at a mansion where Joe is staying brings Maggie face to face with the reality that he’s living with a glamorous countess who is a friend of the bullfighter. The countess—an alluring figure in the social circle—becomes a pivot in Maggie’s jealousy, and she schemes to coax the bullfighter into proposing to her in an effort to provoke Joe. Yet her plan spirals into chaos when she secretly slips into the wrong room, only to discover Maj. Gen. Tim O’Connell, Fred Clark, in bed with someone else. The ensuing mix-up draws a crowd and turns Maggie’s ruse into a comedic, chaotic moment.
In the heat of the confusion, old bonds begin to mend as misunderstandings clear and practical solutions surface. The car issue—once the center of their escalating troubles—reappears as a shared challenge they must face together, and their reconciliation gradually takes shape. Through patience, stubborn love, and a bit of luck, they find a way to move forward.
In the end, the couple retreats to their private space, choosing to focus on each other and the life they’re building together, reaffirming that love and partnership can endure even under the weight of misadventures, official scrutiny, and a car that became a symbol of their turbulent, tender union.
