Professor Henry Barnes decides he's lived long enough and contemplates suicide. His attitude is changed by Peggy Taylor, a chipper young mother-to-be who charms him into renting out his attic as an apartment for her and her husband Jason, a former GI struggling to finish college.

To rid himself of his sponging relatives a man tells them he is really a forger which causes them to leave. His wife believes he is joking, but he has in fact allowed the truth to slip out and now he is danger of being arrested.

The wealthiest man in the world, John P. Merrick, is a private person who likes to stay anonymous. One of his many assets is Neeley's Department Store. There is labor unrest at the store, and the employees' anger is directed at him, who they hang in effigy outside the store despite not knowing what he looks like. Merrick, not happy at what he sees going on, decides to mete out the rabble-rousers. So he goes undercover as a sales clerk in the shoe department.

In Vienna, aspiring composer Johann Strauss Jr. clashes with his domineering father, who wants him to abandon music for a steady job in a bakery. Torn between his love for the baker’s daughter, Resi, and the encouragement of a wealthy countess, Strauss finds inspiration that leads to the creation of "The Blue Danube."

Professor Hamilton, a naive Nuclear scientist who once thought bombs were good for humanity, realizes his mistake and runs away from his inventions. He hides in Calabuch, a beautiful seaside town where people still believe in humor and friendship.