Fifth Avenue socialite Irene Bullock needs a “forgotten man” to win a scavenger hunt, and no one is more forgotten than Godfrey Park, who resides in a dump by the East River. Irene hires Godfrey as a servant for her riotously unhinged family, to the chagrin of her spoiled sister, Cornelia, who tries her best to get Godfrey fired. As Irene falls for her new butler, Godfrey turns the tables and teaches the frivolous Bullocks a lesson or two.

As a parting shot, fired reporter Ann Mitchell prints a fake letter from unemployed “John Doe,” who threatens suicide in protest of social ills. The paper is forced to rehire Ann and hires John Willoughby to impersonate “Doe” which starts a whole political movement.

When half-breed Indian Yaqui Joe (Burt Reynolds) robs an Arizona bank, he is pursued by dogged lawman Lyedecker (Jim Brown). When Lyedecker meets beautiful Yaqui freedom fighter Sarita (Raquel Welch) he begins to question his allegiances.