Who Was That Lady?

When Ann Wilson catches her husband David, a chemistry professor at Columbia University, kissing one of his shapely students, she storms out of his office, yelling that she wants a divorce and expects David to vacate their apartment by 7 p.m. that night. Soon after, David's good friend, television writer Michael Haney, comes to the chemistry lab, and when David tells Mike about his predicament, Mike is incredulous that Ann would be so upset over something as insignificant as a kiss. As David plies Mike with a high-octane alcoholic brew he has whipped up in the lab, Mike concocts a brilliant excuse that would justify David's indiscretion: David should tell Ann that he is an FBI agent and kissed the student, a foreign agent, in the line of duty. To convince Ann, Mike tricks Schultz, the prop man at the television studio, into fabricating an FBI identification card for David and supplying him with a gun. He also tattoos dots on David's foot, which he later tells Ann are identifying marks of an FBI agent. That night, when Ann comes home to pack her suitcase to go to Reno for a divorce, Mike and David roll out their FBI story. Ann refuses to believe them until David produces his identification card and gun, and thrilled by the idea of being married to a daring secret agent, eagerly forgives him. The next day, Schultz, who has become suspicious because the identification card was not used for Mike's show, goes to the FBI office to report that Mike requested a fake FBI card. Assigned to investigate the matter, agent Harry Powell goes to the Wilsons' apartment, where he is greeted by Ann, who announces that her husband is an agent, too. Powell begins to understand David's motivation when Ann breathlessly reports that her husband was forced to "kiss a girl in the line of duty." Because Ann reminds him of his daughter, Powell recommends to his superior, Bob Doyle, that David only be admonished for his impersonation rather than face criminal charges. That night, as David comes home bearing gifts for Ann, Mike rings the doorbell and announces that he and David have been assigned to go to Lee Wong's restaurant in Times Square to meet two foreign agents. After pulling David out the door, Mike chortles that the two agents are "sensational dames." In his haste, David has left his gun behind, and as Ann races out to give it to David, she is met by Powell, who has come to have a talk with David about impersonating an agent. Gushing that her husband is on assignment, Ann drags Powell to the restaurant, where Mike and David are drinking with the buxom Coogle sisters, Gloria and Florence. Ann beams with approval as she watches Mike and David down drinks with the Coogles, proudly observing that David is getting them drunk to "loosen their tongues." Mike tells the sisters, who are promoting their song and dance routine, that David is vice president of CBS Television and "might be interested in using them." When the girls excuse themselves to go to the ladies' room, Ann insists on letting her husband know that his colleague Powell is there, and sneaks under David's table to inform him that an FBI agent is watching them. Ann then follows the girls to the ladies' room, entering just as they end a phone call with their agent, who has told them that David is a phony. When the sisters conspire to "get rid of David," Ann is certain that her husband's life is in danger. Trying to avoid Powell, David and Mike run out of the restaurant, and Ann, brandishing David's gun, runs after them. As Powell and Mike try to wrestle the gun from Ann, the weapon fires, drawing the attention of a passing CBS news truck and several reporters. When questioned by the CBS reporter, Ann exclaims that her husband is an FBI agent. The story of the FBI agent firing a gun in Times Square is broadcast nationwide, and as Bob tries to explain the situation to his superiors, Parker, a CIA agent who believes that David is a real FBI agent, comes to berate Bob for withholding information from the CIA. Parker explains that the CIA has been wiretapping Belka, a Soviet agent, and has intercepted a call in which Belka mentions two women in a restaurant. Meanwhile, a man claiming to represent FBI public relations phones the Wilsons to request a photo session with them and Mike at the Empire State Building that afternoon. Certain that he and Mike are going to be arrested, David is about to confess all to Ann when Mike arrives, escorted by an FBI agent, to take David to headquarters. On the way there, Mike and David calculate that they will be spending the next 180 years in prison and blame each other for their dilemma. As Bob questions Mike and David at the FBI office, Parker arrives with the news that they have intercepted another call from Belka in which he is posing as an FBI public relations man. When David mentions that he was just contacted by someone from FBI public relations, they realize that Belka is trying to set them up. Hoping to trap the spy, Bob insists that they keep their date with him that afternoon. As FBI agents surveil the building, Belka appears and Ann, still thinking that he is an FBI PR man, ecstatically follows him into the elevator with Mike and David. Inside are two burly men, and after the doors close and the elevator starts moving, Belka pulls out a gun and stops the elevator between floors. After knocking out Mike and David and drugging Ann, one of the men, Orenov, injects David with truth serum to make him reveal the names of the scientists who are working on a secret government project. Orenov mistakes David's ignorance for disciplined resolve in the face of the enemy, and as the real FBI agents struggle to free the elevator, Belka sends the car to the lower basement of the building. Convinced that David's strength of character will never allow him to divulge state secrets, the spies flee. When Ann revives, David, still under the influence of the truth serum, confesses everything, sending Ann running out of the basement in a fury. Still groggy from the drug, David surveys his surroundings and concludes that the spies have imprisoned them aboard a submarine. After David convinces Mike that it is their patriotic duty to sink the sub, they open the steam valves, singing "America, the Beautiful" while bravely awaiting their demise. As the water floods out, the building's utilities break down, and Powell and the others hurry to the basement to discover what is wrong. Finding David and Mike knee-deep in water, Powell informs them that the spies have been apprehended and that Ann knows everything. As Powell coaxes the downhearted David into extolling Ann's virtues, Ann, who has been standing at the door, listens. When David sees her reflection in the water, he turns around and they kiss. Mike, David and Ann then run out into the street and jump into a cab as a cloud of smoke pours from the top of the Empire State Building.