Ellen McNulty leaves her New Jersey hamburger stand and heads west to pay a surprise visit to her son and his new bride. When Ellen arrives, her daughter-in-law mistakes her for the maid she has hired for a big party they are throwing. Rather than cause any embarrassment, Ellen goes along with the charade, which leads to many complications.

A conservationist fights to save the habitat of the California condor and to do it she works her way into the affections of a representative of the oil company that wants the land for their own purposes.