Danny Kaye plays kind-hearted entertainer Hawkins, who disguises himself as the legendary king of jesters, Giacomo. Hawkins infiltrates the court of the evil villain Basil Rathbone, but when a sorceress hypnotizes him, royal chaos ensues. Giacomo now believes he is also an infamous assassin and alternates between his identities at the snap of a finger.

When two song-and-dance men join forces with a sister act and travel to Vermont in search of a white Christmas, they find that the inn is run by their old army general, who is now in financial trouble.

Cary Grant plays a successful New York advertising executive who wants to escape his current living situation. He decides to design his own dream house in the suburbs and the project turns wrong when the bills never end and the problems never stop.