After accidentally receiving a lethal dose of radiation near the Los Alamos nuclear test site, railroad attendant Homer Flagg (Jerry Lewis) has only weeks to live. Scrappy newspaper reporter Wally Cook (Janet Leigh) wants to bring the small-town boy to New York to live his final days in luxury while she reports on his bravery. Homer's doctor, Steve Harris (Dean Martin), has learned his patient isn't about to die, but his attraction to the beautiful Wally causes him to keep that a secret.