Texas cattleman visits son in Maine, tries persuading him to take over ranch. Discovers daughter-in-law craves meat due to pregnancy, arranges for butcher to offer discounted prices so she can afford desired steaks on son's teacher salary.

Texas cattleman Opie Bedloe (Louis Calhern) comes to Maine to visit his son Joe (Van Johnson), a college poetry instructor, and his wife Connie (Janet Leigh) in the hopes of persuading Joe to give up his teaching career and come back to Texas and take over the ranch so Opie can retire. When Opie finds out that Connie, who is expecting a baby, can not afford the steaks she yearns for on Joe's salary, Opie, who believes that pregnant women must have meat, arranges for the local butcher, Spangenberg (Walter Slezak) to cut his prices in half (with Opie paying the difference) so that Connie can have the meat she desires.—Les Adams <[email protected]>

Married Connie (Janet Leigh) and Joe Bedloe (Van Johnson) live in a Maine college town, Mathers College where Joe is a poetry professor. Connie likes meat as much as the next person, but was well aware before they got married that it would not grace their dinner table often in they not being able to afford it on Joe's paltry salary, similar to his colleagues at the college. Regardless, they are happy as teaching is Joe's calling, especially compared to the alternative of him taking over his father Opie Bedloe's West Texas cattle ranch, where Joe could have made millions but which would have meant enduring overbearing Opie (Louie Calhern), the two who long ago had a falling out. Things change for Connie when she starts craving red meat in being pregnant, she knowing that such a substantial diet being good for the baby, and extra money in general being what they need to live a more comfortable life with that extra mouth to feed. They may be able to accomplish that goal as Joe is one of two at the college qualified for the promotion to Assistant Professor. However, Joe admits he wants the promotion solely on his merits as a teacher, he, unlike his competitor Simmons (Hayden Rorke), not attuned to the apple polishing required by gluttonous Dean Edward Magruder (Gene Lockhart), who expects to be wooed via dinners filled with red meat. Concurrently, Opie, in wanting to retire, makes an unannounced trip to Maine to try to convince Joe to reconsider taking over the ranch. Each of the three of Connie, Joe and Opie work openly and behind the scenes - Opie with local butcher Emil Spangenberg (Walter Slezak) who has aspirations to be president of the Retail Butchers' Association - to get what they want, their three goals which are somewhat incompatible.—Huggo