Informed by Pomeroy, his impudent butler, that his supply of gasoline coupons is exhausted, lingerie tycoon F. Farington Fowler decides to visit the Truxville ration board to petition for more coupons. After saying goodbye to his wife, who is leaving to visit her mother for two weeks, Fowler and his chauffeur drive into town. When their car runs out of gas, they are forced to walk the remaining two miles. After McPherson, the local plumber and head of the board, informs Fowler that he would be eligible to receive more coupons if he included two passengers in his daily drive to New York City, the tycoon decides to hire two people to ride with him. At his office, Fowler mistakes Andrew Kent, his secretary Cynthia Richard's fiancé, who has come to sell him synthetic silk, for a prospective passenger and hires him. After instructing Andy to meet him at the Truxville ration office that afternoon, Fowler calls Charles Dafoe, the owner of a textile company, to order some material for his lingerie. When the pious Dafoe refuses to sell any merchandise until he has a chance to investigate the buyer's moral character, Fowler suggests a meeting. Meanwhile, Pomeroy secures another passenger for his employer when one of the butler's girl friends, unemployed showgirl Pat Campbell, appears at the Fowler house. Pomeroy offers Pat the absent Mrs. Fowler's room, and she loses no time in inviting her entire troupe of dancing girls to join her. That afternoon at the ration board, Fowler meets his two passengers and is warned by McPherson that any misrepresentation will result in a $10,000 fine and ten years in prison. When Andy protests that he has nowhere to live in Truxville, Fowler offers his hospitality and drives home with his two new passengers. There he is greeted by Pat's dancing girls and the news that except for Pomeroy, his entire staff has quit. Fowler's predicament worsens when the Dafoes pay an unexpected visit and mistake Pat for Mrs. Fowler. After Fowler convinces the callous Pat to play along with the ruse, the Dafoes invite themselves to dinner. Rising to the occasion, Pomeroy uniforms the dancers in skimpy maid's costumes and siphons gas from the Dafoes' car to drive into town and buy food. Later, Dafoe discovers that his gas tank is empty and invites himself for the weekend. After dinner, the Dafoes and Pat retire to their rooms. Soon after, Mrs. Fowler returns home, explaining that her car ran out of gas. Disturbed by the commotion, Dafoe comes into the hallway and mistakes Mrs. Fowler for the housekeeper. After he returns to his room, Pat comes downstairs and Fowler introduces her to Mrs. Fowler as Andy's wife. When Cynthia then arrives at the house to deliver some papers, Mrs. Fowler tells the surprised secretary that Andy is in the den with his wife. Upstairs, the Dafoes, envious of Fowler's plentitude of servants, plot to steal his housekeeper and offer the perplexed Mrs. Fowler money. As Fowler whispers at the doors to Cynthia's and his wife's rooms, trying to explain the situation, Dafoe overhears him and orders him to Pat's room. Pat then locks him in the bathroom, and while trying to climb out the window, he breaks a pipe and causes a flood. After escaping from the bathroom, Fowler seeks refuge in the room occupied by the chorus girls, and when they begin to scream, Mrs. Fowler comes to the door and threatens divorce. Mrs. Fowler then announces that she intends to leave the house, and Mrs. Dafoe, still thinking that she is the housekeeper, invites her to sleep in the Dafoes' room while Mr. Dafoe occupies hers. Unaware that Dafoe is now sleeping in his wife's bed, Fowler climbs in and kisses him, causing Dafoe to denounce him as a degenerate. Summoned by Pomeroy to fix the plumbing, McPherson arrives, and discovering Fowler's deception, threatens to report him to the FBI. When Mrs. Fowler discovers Andy's lingerie samples, Andy explains that he has developed a process to manufacture synthetic silk, and Fowler, realizing that he no longer needs Dafoe, kicks him down the stairs. As Dafoe hits the bottom step, however, Andy mentions that he cannot begin manufacturing the synthetic fabric until six months after the war ends.