A rowdy, womanizing merchant marine, leader of an eccentric crew of misfits and drunks, is almost killed by a Japanese torpedo strike. The brush with death seems to make him even more reckless. In San Francisco, he clashes with a sophisticated, cold librarian, but hangs around because of his attraction to her much livelier, flirty roommate. Yet the seaman and the librarian can't quit challenging each other, almost to the point of a physical altercation. Following their most angry, almost violent argument, the two come together as lovers, running off to Reno for a quick, unlikely marriage. But almost immediately after, their differences in values and philosophy come to a head. The mismatched relationship seems doomed - and, possibly, to end in profound tragedy.