The
satirical plot follows film industry denizens and
Hollywood society, all preoccupied
with making a movie. After an elaborate song-and-dance sequence set to "
Polly Wolly Doodle", it's revealed successful
film producer Felix Farmer has just suffered the first
major flop of his career with his film
Night Wind, resulting in the loss of millions of dollars to Capitol film studios. The failure of the film has also cost Felix his sanity and his marriage to actress Sally Miles. Felix attempts suicide several times but each one is a failure. After he tries to
hang himself in an upstairs bedroom, he falls and crashes through the floor, injuring a Hollywood
gossip columnist standing in the room below. While Felix is variously catatonic or heavily sedated, his three closest friends, film director Tim Culley, press agent Ben Coogan and physician Dr. Irving Finegarten, occupy his Malibu beach house and host a party, which soon degenerates into an orgy. Felix then tries to asphyxiate himself in his kitchen oven but he is again thwarted by two randy party guests with other things on their mind. Felix next attempts to shoot himself, but is distracted by a young woman wearing only a pair of panties. This experience gives Felix a sudden, intense epiphany: His film's failure was due to its lack of sex. Thoroughly convinced that an erotic version of
Night Wind will be a resounding success, Felix persuades David Blackman, the president of Capitol studios to sell him the film outright. Initially, Blackman and the other studio bigwigs are keen to unload the film on Felix and recoup their investment. Unbeknownst to his estranged wife, Sally, the star of the failed
Night Wind, Felix liquidates most of their assets to purchase the film and finance further production. He then attempts to convince Sally, an
Oscar-winning actress with a squeaky-clean image, to perform in the revised film—now a
softcore pornographic musical where she would appear
topless. The Capitol executives believe Felix is insane but when Sally's agent convinces her to go through with the topless scene and the Hollywood buzz believes that a revised, erotic
Night Wind starring a topless Sally Miles will be a likely success, they plot to regain control of the film. Since half of Felix's assets legally belong to Sally, she is persuaded by Herb Maskowitz, her attorney (whose law firm also represents Capitol studios) to sign a deal with the studio to distribute
Night Wind; a deal that also gives Capitol the right to edit the film. When Felix learns of Sally's distribution deal, he becomes hysterical and attempts to steal the film negatives from Capitol studio's color lab vault. After brandishing his son's water pistol and taking the lab's manager hostage, Felix is shot and killed by the police. Felix's three comrades, Culley, Ben and Dr. Finegarten, are hit hard by his sudden and tragic death. They decide to save Felix from a lavish but hypocritical Hollywood funeral and give their old friend a proper sendoff. The inebriated trio break into the
funeral home, steal Felix's body from its casket and substitute the corpse of a largely forgotten character actor who died unnoticed on the beach near the Farmer home at the beginning of the film. After toasting their fallen comrade, the three give Felix a Viking funeral in a burning dinghy, while the actor in Felix's casket gets the elaborate Hollywood sendoff at Capitol studios. The epilogue reveals that Felix was right: His revamped
Night Wind was a box-office bonanza for the studio, with Sally winning another
Academy Award for her performance. ==Cast==