When Matt Masters (John Wayne) takes his ailing circus on a tour of Europe, it's not simply to put its finances back into order. He's also there on a romantic quest to find his old flame Lili Alfredo (Rita Hayworth), whose daughter Toni (Claudia Cardinale) he raised. But both missions are put in jeopardy when the ship ferrying his circus across the Atlantic sinks. But the show must go on - and Masters pulls out all the stops to make the tour a success and reunite with Lili.