The mysterious owner of a costume shop rents a Santa Claus suit to three very different men: a math teacher trying to get the nerve to propose, a homeless restaurateur trying to hide from the mob, and a harried political speech writer visiting with his estranged wife and son. Their lives are inexorably changed by their experience of playing Santa Claus.

After perennial college students Danny O'Neill and Hank Taylor are forced to make it on their own, the competitive pair get jobs with Artie Shaw's band and reunite with ex-manager Ellen Miller.