Although Ellie Andrews (June Allyson) is in love with the treasure-hunting Ballarino, her father, Texas cattleman A.A. Andrews (Charles Bickford), will stop at nothing - including kidnapping -- to see that the wedding never takes place. Escaping her father's grasp, Ellie takes to the road where her flight to avoid a nationwide manhunt attracts the attention of Peter Warne (Jack Lemmon), a newspaper reporter who recognizes that he's stumbled into the story of the year. Despite the oil-and-water chemistry between them, Peter and Ellie fall in love. And after seeing that it's the reporter who she really wants, Andrews encourages Ellie to abandon her plans to marry Ballarino and run away with Peter instead.