During a cross-country lecture tour, notoriously acerbic radio personality Sheridan Whiteside slips on the icy steps of the house of the Stanleys, a prominent Ohio family, and is forced to recuperate in their home during the Christmas holidays. The overbearing, self-centered celebrity soon comes to dominate the lives of the residents and everyone else who enters the household. He encourages young adults Richard and June Stanley to pursue their dreams, much to the dismay of their conventional father Ernest. Meanwhile, Whiteside's spinster assistant Maggie Cutler finds herself attracted to local newspaperman Bert Jefferson. When she reads Bert's play, she is so impressed she asks Whiteside to show it to his contacts, and then announces she will quit his employment and marry Bert. However, her boss is loath to lose such an efficient aide and does his best to sabotage the blossoming romance...
15岁的男孩阿兰•艾伯纳西(Gregory Smith 饰)是一个玩具经销商的儿子,他喜欢玩具,但和父亲不同,那种打打杀杀的战争游戏对阿兰更具有吸引力。而他顽固的父亲则坚持出售那些传统、温馨的玩具,即使生意举步维艰也在所不惜。
但小作坊式的玩具店总会受到大企业的冲击,阿兰家的店面临被兼并的命运。替父亲看店时,阿兰偷偷从批发商那进了几套格洛伯特雷奇公司最新推出的能够走动说话的战争游戏玩偶——分别是奇普•哈泽德率领的“精英突击队”和以阿切尔为首的“戈格奈茨”人。实际上,这两款玩偶内配军事设备,是军方为试验最新武器稳定性而秘密放置的。不久,这些危险的玩具引发了一场大混乱……