Smitten by Polly Martin (Virginia Mayo), milkman Burleigh Sullivan (Danny Kaye) promises that his sister, Susie (Vera-Ellen), can get Polly a job at the club she owns. That night, Burleigh interrupts two men accosting Susie in the alley and apparently knocks them both out. When the men are discovered to be middleweight boxing champion Speed MacFarlane (Steve Cochran) and his coach, Speed's manager (Walter Abel) convinces Burleigh to take up boxing. Hoping to impress Polly, Burleigh agrees.