While on shore leave, sailor John Baggs Jr. (James Caan) wins some alone time with prostitute Maggie (Marsha Mason) but has second thoughts about how to spend the evening when he discovers her hard-knock life. So what does he do? He ends up marrying the single mother. But Maggie finds she can't settle into married life and runs off, forcing Baggs into a sticky situation with his superiors. Eli Wallach, Dabney Coleman and Kirk Calloway co-star.