Etienne Pimm (Charles Boyer) has an unusual way of making a living: he arranges for impoverished European aristocrats to marry unsuspecting rich people. He is then discreetly compensated for his matchmaking. His latest target is Millicent "Milly" Mehaffey (Hope Lange), newly arrived on the French Riviera. Pimm and his assistant Janine (Ulla Jacobsson) begin grooming the penniless Grand duke Gaspard Ducluzeau (Ricardo Montalban) for Milly, hiring Julian Soames (John Wood (English actor)) to teach him manners and English. As their target fancies herself a race car driver, Pimm recruits John Lathrop Davis (Glenn Ford), a (retired) champion many times over, to teach Gaspard to drive.