Ambassador-designate to Saudi Arabia Ogden Mears (Marlon Brando) sails back to America after touring the world. He meets Natasha, a Russian countess (Sophia Loren, in Hong Kong after she sneaks aboard in evening dress to escape her life at a dance hall for sailors. A refugee, she has no passport and is forced to stay in his cabin during the voyage.
The action starts in 1918, with the collapse of the Tomainian (German) army. A Jewish barber saves the life of a wounded pilot, Schultz, but loses his own memory through concussion.