Air Force Sgt. Joe Fitzpatrick meets and marries a beautiful model, Maggie Putnam, on the eve of being shipped off to Spain. When the new Mrs. Fitzpatrick waits to join her husband, she promises him in a letter "the most wonderful surprise that could happen to two people." Joe naturally assumes that she's pregnant, but the surprise turns out to be a fabulous new car that he won in a raffle. His new bride and car win him the scorn and jealousy of Spain's most famous toreador, not to mention the suspicions of his commanding officer.

This period drama frames the tumultuous affair between Queen Elizabeth I and the man who would be King of England.

A power struggle ensues after the death of media magnate Amos Kyne, whose corporation has been turned over to his sole heir, his foppish son Walter. Rather than run the company himself, Walter decides to let the heads of its three divisions fight it out for control. Their assignment is to score an exclusive on a serial killer who is terrorizing women in New York. The Kyne organization's newspaper dubs him "The Lipstick Killer." If a resourceful someone can identify him even before the police do, Walter Kyne will reward him with the title of executive director. One of the three, newspaper editor John Day Griffith, has an ally in high-profile reporter Edward Mobley, who also does reports on Kyne's television network. While wire-service chief Mark Loving recruits star writer Mildred Donner to be his eyes and ears, a third contender for the top job, Harry Kritzer, carries on a secret affair with Dorothy, who is Walter Kyne's wife....