Pre-war Florence is the place to be for any proper British woman who relishes culture and the arts. These ladies have everything they could ever want or need, including a promise from Dictator Mussolini himself that not even the imminent World War will impose upon their lifestyle. But when it appears that his word is not kept and the expatriates, who choose to stay in Italy instead of seeking refuge in their own country are in trouble, it takes a young outcast boy and a brazen American woman (Cher) to keep them in the high life and out of harms way.