Lydia Linley is a young heiress who yearns for a man like Sydney Carton of A Tale of Two Cities - "a man of warmth, imagination, courage, and a sense of adventure." Jack Vandergelt III (Roger Moore) is in love with Lydia but knows she will have nothing to do with him because he is rich. Vandergelt hires Bret Maverick to switch identities with him in hopes that Lydia will love and accept him for who he is before she realizes he is a Vandergelt. The plan goes smoothly until Jack Vandergelt's father unexpectedly arrives in town.