Elyot Chase and Amanda Prynne, divorced after a tempestuous marriage, are dismayed to discover they both have opted to honeymoon with their new spouses at the same hotel on the French Riviera.

Left to reminisce, Elyot and Amanda rekindle their relationship with a kiss and make a pact to put an end to any verbal battles when either one utters the name "Solomon Isaacs."

The two then abandon and flee to St. Moritz, but before long they begin a spat that evolves into a major fight about a phonograph record, which Amanda breaks over Elyot's head, an action that leads to total destruction of their hotel room.

Things finally calm down, and the two couples meet for breakfast the next day, but when Victor and Sybil begin to fight, Elyot and Amanda walk out and depart the resort by train.

When Noël Coward's play proved to be a hit both in London and on Broadway, MGM executive Irving Thalberg bought the rights for a film adaptation starring his wife, Norma Shearer.