After the mayor uses a potentially dangerous substance to protect the local plantation, the lakeside town of Mountview, in California, is attacked by a lethal species of large cockroach. After some of the town's inhabitants are killed, the mayor enlists the help of eccentric pest exterminator General George S. Merlin in order to prevent further harm to the local dwellers.

Saul Schwartz, a married successful businessman, is bored with his life and decides he has had enough. So he gets a divorce, quits his job, and goes off to pursue his dream, in Hollywood to be a movie star. Only becoming a movie star isn't as easy as he thought. Nobody wants an overweight, 50 year old, New Yorker who looks like a lawyer. He's going to have to make a few adjustments.