Stork Bites Man

One morning, an invisible, heavenly stork is sent down to Earth to give assistance to Ernest C. Brown, the manager of the Kimberly Towers apartment building. The stork awakens Ernie and, after explaining his divine mission, informs him that he will soon become a father. Ernie, who is the only living person who can hear the stork, assumes he has dreamt the "news" and is startled when his wife Peg reveals the next morning that she is indeed pregnant. That same day, Ernie is forced to turn down an applicant for a vacant apartment because the applicant has children and the Kimberly Towers has a "no pets, no peddlers, no children" policy. Hubert Butterfield, an avid salesman for the Baby Fairyland Department Store, eavesdrops on Ernie's exchange with the applicant and later berates him for turning away families, whose business he hopes someday to cultivate. After he suddenly realizes that he and Peg will soon fall victim to the building's rules, Ernie tries to tell the explosive Alan Kimberly about Peg's pregnancy, but loses his nerve and invites him to dinner instead. During dinner, Peg's mother, Mrs. Greene, arrives, ready to move in and care for her expectant daughter. For the remainder of the evening, Ernie struggles to keep Mrs. Greene from revealing Peg's condition to Kimberly. Butterfield, however, soon learns about the situation from Mrs. Greene, who has come to shop at Baby Fairyland. Later, when Kimberly catches Ernie receiving baby care instructions from Butterfield, Ernie diverts his suspicions by saying that Peg's mother is pregnant. Ernie is then given a temporary respite from his problems after Kimberly leaves for an extended vacation in California. On the day that Kimberly returns, Ernie, who has been fretting about his situation for months, learns about a vacant rental house and gleefully makes plans to move. After he tells Peg and her mother the good news, however, Ernie is visited by Jerry, an old Army friend, who is desperately looking for a home for his wife and children. Unable to turn his friend away, Ernie sends the family to the rental house. Kimberly then discovers the truth about Peg, as Butterfield is setting up broadcasting equipment in the Browns's apartment in order to announce that Ernie has been chosen Father of the Year by Baby Fairyland. True to his word, Kimberly throws Ernie and Peg out of their home. Peg, who is nearing her due date, leaves town with her mother, while a depressed Ernie drops out of sight. Still vigilant, the stork convinces the homeless Ernie to start a campaign against Kimberly and all landlords who refuse to rent to families. After Baby Fairyland publicly endorses Ernie's efforts, the many workers who service Kimberly Towers start a boycott of the building. Ernie then brings pressure to bear on city officials, and soon the health commission, fire department and Kimberly's bank are urging the landlord to change his ways. Overwhelmed by the boycott, Kimberly offers Ernie his home and job back, but stops short of opening up his building to other families. As Ernie starts to argue the point, Butterfield reveals that Peg has gone to the hospital, and Baby Fairyland flies Ernie and Kimberly there. Peg gives birth to a boy and reunites with a proud Ernie, who then returns to lecturing Kimberly about his civic responsibilities. Finally assured of Ernie's parental aptitude, the stork flies off to his next assignment.