Two American song-and-dance men, George Cochran (Bing Crosby) and Harold Gridley (Bob Hope), flee Melbourne, Australia, to avoid various marriage proposals. They sign on for work as deep-sea divers for a local prince in the South Pacific, where they meet the beautiful Princess Lala (Dorothy Lamour). Both men vie for the princess's affections while trying to recover a chest of priceless jewels from a sunken ship, which is guarded by a giant squid. After escaping from the villainous prince and facing other perils like an amorous gorilla and a volcano eruption, the trio becomes shipwrecked on an unfamiliar island. The story is known for its minimal plot, frequent ad-libbing, breaking of the fourth wall, and numerous celebrity cameos, including appearances by Humphrey Bogart, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, and Jane Russell.