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In
New York City, interior decorator Jan Morrow shares a party phone line
with songwriter Brad Allen, who continually ties up the line singing the
same love song, "Inspiration," to his many girlfriends. When Jan’s
complaints yield only disdain from Brad, she reports to the phone
company that Brad is a sex maniac, prompting the manager to launch an
investigation. The researcher, however, is a single female who is
so immediately entranced by the handsome womanizer that she waives the
complaint.
Meanwhile, Jan refuses a gift of a convertible automobile
from her wealthy client and would-be suitor, Jonathan Forbes. The
next morning, Brad calls Jan and insinuates that it is her inactive sex
life that causes her to hound him, after which she icily suggests a
time-share arrangement under which they each use the phone for half of
every hour. Alma, Jan’s drunkard maid, has been listening in, and
now confirms Brad’s view that Jan needs a more active sex life.
Jan, however, considers all her paramours lacking, including Jonathan.
When he later proposes, she explains that he fails to m
ake her "hit the moon" with passion. A frustrated Jonathan
grumbles about Jan to Brad, who is an old friend and the writer whom
Jonathan has hired to write a musical play. When Brad, who has never
seen his party-line partner, recognizes her name, he is fascinated by
Jonathan’s description of her many assets. Although he scoffs at
Jonathan’s advice to curtail his playboy lifestyle in favor of marriage,
Brad later calls Jan to apologize for his earlier behavior, growing even
more intrigued when she remains impervious to his charms.
That night, Jan attends a party hosted by her rich
client, Mrs. Walters, whose college-age son Tony offers to drive Jan
home. Once on the road, Tony attacks Jan with youthful fervor,
forcing her to agree to accompany him to a club, where, unknown to her,
she sits next to Brad and his date, Maria. After overhearing Jan’s
name, Brad notes her lovely figure and schemes to seduce her, and
knowing that she would never speak to him, devises a new identity:
Rex Stetson, chivalrous Texas rancher. "Rex" soon enchants Jan,
who is instantly attracted to the tall, apparently guileless country
man. While she muses on his trustworthy appeal, he silently
deduces that it will take him only five dates to sleep with her.
Later that night, Brad hatches a plan to further endear
Rex to Jan by calling and pretending to be first Rex and then Brad,
interrupting to warn Jan that he has heard Rex on the line and considers
him a rake. Jan sneers at Brad’s assumption, but the next night
when Rex brings her to his hotel room, she is on guard. He merely
retrieves his coat, however, causing her to beg his forgiveness for her
untoward suspicions. They then take a hansom cab though the park,
during which Brad’s handling of the horses delights Jan but horrifies
the driver. At dinner, Brad spots Jonathan near the entrance and
deters him from coming over to their table by tricking him into thinking
he has an unattractive date.
Brad and Jan spend the next few days together, enjoying
each other so much that she agrees to break a date with Jonathan for
him. Jonathan guesses correctly that Jan is in love with someone
else, and although he wishes her luck, he hires a private investigator
to look into his competition.
Later, Brad avoids running into Jan in Jonathan’s hallway
by stepping into an obstetrician’s office, where he startles Nurse
Resnick and Dr. Maxwell by asking for an examination. Soon after,
Jonathan’s investigator provides photos of "Rex" that compel Jonathan to
confront Brad. He tails Brad and Jan to a club, where he
clandestinely warns Brad to leave Jan and spend the next weeks secluded
in Jonathan’s Connecticut home. Brad appears to be remorseful and
compliant but secretly asks Jan to accompany him to the country, where
the couple enjoys a romantic rendezvous by the fire. Jan is eager
to make love with Rex but, at one point, discovers some sheet music;
upon playing it, she recognizes the song as "Inspiration."
Realizing his ruse has been uncovered, Brad tries to
proclaim his love to Jan. Just then, however, Jonathan arrives and
Jan flees with him to the city. Despite Jonathan’s desire to woo
Jan, her constant sobbing on the ride home unnerves him. They stop
at a diner, and after he slaps her to help her gain her composure, the
appalled patrons assume he is a cad and knock him out.
Three days later, a distraught Brad begs Jonathan to help
him win back Jan but, when she visits Jonathan’s office and spots Brad,
she dashes away. He follows her into the ladies’ room, managing
once again to arouse the interest of Dr. Maxwell, who hopes Brad may
prove to be the world's first pregnant man. Desperate, Brad turns
to Alma, who calls herself "a devoted listener" to his phone calls and
accepts his offer to go to a bar and discuss his situation with Jan.
The next morning, a brutally hung over Brad recalls
Alma’s advice to hire Jan to decorate his apartment, and schemes with
Jan’s boss to manipulate her into accepting the job. Jan spends
the next few days converting the apartment into a nauseating bachelor
pad, complete with animal prints, hanging beads and a harem decor.
When Brad sees it, he is infuriated and storms into Jan’s apartment,
dragging her from her bed in her pajamas and carrying her to his
apartment. Brad's brash behavior inspires Jan’s elevator operator
to flirt with Alma. At Brad’s apartment, he launches into an angry
tirade, of which Jan registers only that he wants to marry her.
When he tries to stomp out, she flicks one of the switches she has
installed, which locks the door from the inside. Finally
understanding that she loves him, Brad sweeps Jan into his arms.
Three months later, Brad returns to Jonathan’s building
to announce Jan’s pregnancy, but is stopped by Nurse Resnick and Dr.
Maxwell, who are intrigued at the scientific implications of Brad’s
declaration that he is having a baby. |
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