In Venice, a millionaire hires an actor to help him prank three greedy ex-girlfriends into thinking he's dying and leaving his fortune to one of them.

Wealthy Cecil Fox, locally known as a major patron of Venice, has placed a worldwide advertisement for a personal secretary. Of the many qualified applicants, one of the few he calls in and who he ultimately hires is highly unqualified struggling Hollywood actor William McFly, who is well aware that based on the salary listed that Fox does not really want a personal secretary but a person for a totally different job description. That job, as Fox describes to him in simple terms, is to be the stage manager of a play to take place in his palazzo, Fox, McFly himself, and three unwitting others to be the actors in what those unwitting three will believe to be real life, as such McFly will have to use his acting skills to improvise based on what the three others do. In the guise that he is on his deathbed, Fox has called back into his life three former lovers, each who believes that Fox is going to bequeath his entire vast estate to her, only to find that each is in competition with the other two unknown to them before their arrival. Despite none of the three really needing the money, each woman does arrive as requested and seemingly wants the money. The three are: Texas matron Lone Star Sheridan née Crockett, French Princess Dominique, and fading Hollywood actress Merle McGill. Added to the mix is Mrs. Sheridan's personal registered nurse, proper Brit Sarah Watkins, who, in addition to monitoring Mrs. Sheridan's intake of barbiturate sleeping pills, is more the "maintainer" of her high maintenance employer. As each of the four women works toward her own personal ends in this situation, McFly tries to figure out Fox's endgame, which he knows is more than playing a joke on his former lovers, and which he may be able to use for his own benefit if he does figure it out.—Huggo

Inspired by a performance of his favorite play, "Volpone," twentieth century millionaire Cecil Fox (Sir Rex Harrison) devises an intricate plan to trick three of his former mistresses into believing he is dying. Although the women are wealthy in their own right, all have good reason to covet his fortune. To assist him in his scheme, Fox hires William McFly (Cliff Robertson), a gigolo and sometime actor, to act as his secretary/servant. Fox is soon visited at his "deathbed" by the three former mistresses: Merle McGill (Edie Adams), a fading Hollywood sex symbol; Princess Dominique (Capucine), who once took a cruise on Fox's yacht; and Mrs. Lone Star Crockett Sheridan (Susan Hayward), a Texas hypochondriac who travels with an enigmatic nurse/companion (Dame Maggie Smith). As Fox and McFly act out the charade, things take an unexpected turn from comical farce to full-blown murder mystery.—alfiehitchie

In Venice, millionaire benefactor Cecil Fox (Sir Rex Harrison) watches a seventeenth century play "Volpone" and plots a practical joke to play on his three former greedy mistresses. He hires unemployed actor William McFly (Cliff Robertson) to act as his butler and stage manager and sends letters telling the mistresses he is terminally ill. The prime intention of Cecil is to see the reaction of the women after the reading of his will, but things do not go as planned.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil