A three-ring circus ensues when Sheridan Whiteside—critic, lecturer, wit, radio orator, intimate friend of the great and near-great—having dined at the Stanleys’ home, slips on their doorstep and breaks his hip. Confined for six weeks during the Christmas season, Whiteside turns the Stanley household upside down with his egotistical demands. Meanwhile, when his secretary gives notice, he employs every weapon in his arsenal of manipulation to keep her.