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Arriving at the Putnam Landing train station, commuter
Harry Bannerman wonders why his wife Grace is not there to pick him up.
Angela Hoffa, the alluring, neglected wife of television writer Oscar
Hoffa, is awaiting her husband and, when she learns that he has missed
his train, she offers Harry a ride home. As Angela enumerates her
marital woes, Harry protests that he is a happily married man.
Upon arriving home, Harry finds his harried wife Grace
absorbed in her pursuit of civic duties. When Harry complains
about Grace's constant committee meetings, Grace breaks into tears and
then tantalizes Harry with the promise of a romantic evening at the St.
Regis Hotel in New York the following Tuesday.
That night, during a town meeting to discuss a proposed
garbage dump, Harry entertains romantic fantasies about his wife until
his reverie is interrupted by the news that the Army has bought the dump
site for a top secret project. When the town decides to form a
committee to stop the Army, Grace is nominated as head and appoints
Harry, a public relations expert, as their emissary to Washington.
Grace then suggests he meet with Army officials the following Tuesday,
effectively canceling their "second honeymoon" in New York.
When Grace stays late at the meeting, Harry drives Angela
home. Several drinks later, Angela slips into a slinky outfit, and
they lurch into a drunken dance that ends with Harry swinging from the
chandelier. Meanwhile, Comfort Goodpasture, the Bannermans'
teenage babysitter, suddenly discovers boys and allows Grady Metcalf,
the town delinquent, to tutor her in the art of kissing.
In Washington, Harry meets with Gen. Thorwald and
Captain
Hoxie, the officers in charge of the troops assigned to Putnam's
Landing. After the hot-headed Hoxie announces that he would like
to execute the entire town, Harry stammers and offers his public
relations services to the Army.
Meanwhile, Angela has decided to surprise Harry by
checking into his hotel room as Mrs. Bannerman. When the desk
clerk informs Harry that his wife has arrived, Harry rushes up to his
room, pulls off his pants, and is bewildered to find Angela lounging in
a pink dressing gown. After accidentally spilling Angela's perfume
on his pants, Harry angrily tosses her a bedspread and orders her to get
dressed. Angela disappears into the bathroom, just as Grace comes
to surprise her husband. Unaware of Grace's presence, Angela
springs out of the bathroom dancing, sending Grace storming out of the
room. At home, Harry tries to explain the situation, but Grace
throws him out.
Soon after, Hoxie and his troops arrive in town, and the
soldiers formulate a strategy to reel in the appealing teenage girls,
who they term "boojoo." As Hoxie attempts to lead his men to the
base, Grace and her committee block the bridge across the river.
After television reporters come to cover the story, the general and
Harry watch the scene on television as Hoxie plows his truck through the
bridge and falls into the river to the jeers of the crowd. Sensing
a publicity nightmare in the making, the general asks for Harry's help
and reactivates his status as a lieutenant colonel in the Navy.
Back in Putnam's Landing, Harry pleads his case with
Grace and suggests using the soldiers in her July Fourth Pageant, which
she has decided should have a Thanksgiving theme, as a gesture of good
will. Harry insures Grace's cooperation by forging a letter from
the Secretary of the Army, appealing to her patriotism. After
Harry proposes casting the soldiers as the pilgrims, Grady, jealous of
the attention that Comfort is lavishing on a private named Opie,
convinces the local boys to play the Indians and start a war.
On pageant day, Harry mans a model of The Mayflower, while Hoxie leads a boat of pilgrims to shore in an enactment of the
landing on Plymouth Rock. When the "Indians" tie Opie to a stake
and set his shoes on fire, a brawl ensues onshore while a group of
Indians swim out and sink The Mayflower with Harry onboard.
Defeated, the general finally decides to reveal his secret project to
the community fathers. After introducing them to a chimp named
Leo, the general explains that they plan to shoot Leo into space and
shows them a simulation of the mission. As Hoxie escorts Leo to
the space capsule, Grace comes to the base in search of the general and
is followed by Harry. After an affectionate wrestling match, they
reconcile. Harry picks Grace up and sets her on the console, thus
triggering the control that launches the rocket and sends sending Hoxie
and Leo into space. |
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