Harry Lucas, Jim Hutton, works at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington, D.C. He has an admirer in his sweet coworker Verna Baxter, Dorothy Provine, who tries to woo him with homemade fudge that is famously inedible, though he isn’t ready for anything serious. He also has a nemesis in his supervisor Samson Link, David J. Stewart, who can’t quite understand how Harry manages to live beyond his means. Unbeknownst to Link, Harry leans on free trials that let him enjoy luxury apartments, chauffeured cars, and a glamorous social life, all while carrying a veneer of normality that barely covers the truth: he’s skimming by on appearances and a dangerous appetite for a life he hasn’t earned.
Everything blows up one day when Harry inadvertently drops $50,000 in new currency into a bag with Verna’s fudge and then dumps the entire bag into his garbage disposal, destroying the freshly printed money in a spectacular, clumsy accident. Realizing what he has done, he fears both Link’s scrutiny and an inevitable mint audit. In a panic, Harry turns to Pop Gillis, Walter Brennan, a former mint employee who was forced into retirement and now has little to live for except the company of his pregnant beagle, Inky. Pop agrees to help Harry sneak into the mint after hours and print up replacement currency, hoping to set things right and keep Harry out of serious trouble.
Harry soon realizes the plan requires a broader network. He enlists a quirky team: Dugan, a skilled safecracker, Jack Gilford; Luther Burton, a pawnbroker who can front the costs, Milton Berle; Ralph Randazzo, a public works employee who knows a sewer route to the mint, Joey Bishop; a carnival-worthy amusement park boat captain who can design a craft that fits through a manhole, Victor Buono; and Willie Owens, an ice cream truck driver who can create a distraction for the resident who overlooks the manhole, Bob Denver. Together they piece together a plan that seems almost clever enough to work, with Pop and Verna weighing in on the moral stakes.
Harry’s scheme takes a surprising turn when he finally asks Verna to join, after Pop reminds him that a professional cutter will be needed to slice the printed sheets of bills. To his shock, she agrees, though the others press ahead with their own ambitions. The conspirators initially bargain for $2,000 apiece, but as rehearsals unfold, they raise the stakes: each expects a share of a one-million-dollar payday if they pull off the job.
An unexpected change at the mint forces the caper to be accelerated. The crew drops everything and dives into the heist, brimming with nerves and nerves of steel. Yet the operation is imperfect from the start: Ralph brings along his Italian cousin Mario, played by Jamie Farr, and Inky unexpectedly goes into labor, adding chaos to the already tense plan. Verna grows uneasy when she realizes the take could be far larger than their original target, with the group printing more money than intended.
After a string of mishaps, the crew manages to slip away with more than seven million dollars. But chaos strikes again when Mario mistakenly identifies uniformed garbage collectors as police and allows the cardboard boxes of bills to be hauled away, loaded onto a barge bound for the ocean. The dream unravels, and Harry finds himself ready to confess to Link and face the consequences—job loss, possible charges, and a collapse of the life he’d built.
In a last-ditch twist, Pop appears on the mint steps with fifty thousand dollars in extra bills that had been printed and used to line the box Inky gave birth in. With that windfall, Harry can replace the missing currency, and he gains a renewed appreciation for Verna’s steadfastness and genuine kindness. The film closes on a note of weary reconciliation and a sense that the characters are still chasing a dream, as the others—along with Inky—are later seen scavenging for the lost currency with scuba gear, a reminder that the getaway may have failed, but the bond among the crew remains.
Overall, the story blends a playful caper with misadventures, a dash of romance, and a build-your-own-heist vibe, anchored by an ensemble cast whose larger-than-life personalities improvise their way through a scheme that’s as goofy as it is fragile. The narrative balances lighthearted humor with a sly look at dreams, risk, and the lengths people will go to believe in a better life.
