Plot

Troubles begin for the Sterlings when they buy an expensive car. Friends press them for rides; Marilyn has an accident which Gilbert must get $5, 000 from his boss to pay for. They finally sell the car to the janitor.

Newlyweds Gilbert and Marilyn Sterling tease each other and talk baby talk one Sunday morning in their suburban home, while their older neighbors, the Burtons, start the day off with an argument. At the breakfast table, Richard Burton confesses to his wife that he's broke and that his troubles began when she insisted that they buy an expensive car to impress her friends, Monty Winston and the Rogerses, whom Burton calls "sponges." After the Rogerses and Winston show up for breakfast, Donroy, an auto salesman whom Burton has called, arrives. Burton tells Donroy that he wants to sell the Lincoln, which, he says, has led to an expensive night life. The quickest way to sell the car, Donroy reveals, is to find a "minuteman," that is, someone who is eager to buy it, but who cannot afford it; he explains that there's one born every minute. As he overhears the Sterlings next door, Donroy believes he has found a minuteman. He then drives Burton's car onto the Sterlings' property, and when the couple investigate, Donroy convinces Marilyn that they need the car for social prestige. It isn't long before Gil agrees to sell his "flivver" and take out a mortgage so that he can buy the Lincoln. When the Rogerses and Winston learn that the Sterlings now own the car, they drop the Burtons flat. As Mrs. Burton cries in humiliation, Winston offers to teach Marilyn how to drive. Gil soon takes Burton's place as the one who foots the bills for the evenings out, as Monty continues his flirtation with Marilyn. One night, Marilyn insists on driving after drinking, and after she crashes into a car driven by an old man, Gil is forced to pay the man $5,000 to stop him from pressing criminal charges. Sometime later, Gil's boss, Mr. Stapleton, drives him home to see if he would be the right man to be his assistant. After Gil tells Stapleton that he and his wife spend their evenings quietly at home and that they never drink, Marilyn and her friends return, and Stapleton overhears them speak about carousing until five the previous morning, and about the $5,000 that Gil paid the injured man. Stapleton then reveals that his auditor told him about a cash shortage of $5,000, and Gil admits he took the money, but insists that he was planning to repay it after he either took out a second mortgage on his house or sold it. Extremely upset that Gil lied, Stapleton threatens him with jail. Gil then orders Winston and the Rogerses to leave. Marilyn threatens to leave Gil, but when he berates her for being a "vamping wife," she is impressed with his manner. The Sterlings soon sell their house and give the money to Stapleton, who allows Gil to make weekly payments after Gil has taken a low-paying job and moved to an inexpensive apartment in the city. However, Stapleton visits one night after threatening to send Gil to jail unless he pays the final $1,000. Gil has sent for Donroy so he can sell the car, and Donroy convinces Axel, the janitor, to buy it. Gil objects to selling it to someone who cannot afford it, but Axel reveals that he has the $1,000 in cash on him, and after he buys the car, he shows Donroy some of the illegal liquor he sells. Gil pays Stapleton, who reveals he was trying to teach him a lesson, and Stapleton offers him the assistant job. Marilyn then says they will need a new "car," but jokingly reveals she means a baby carriage.