New York City taxicab driver/owner Ed Nielson has to make a payment on his cab by nightfall, but a passenger he has just picked up, Mary Turner, just off the ship from Ireland, becomes a very deterring factor. She is looking for her husband, an American who visited Ireland, romanced and married her, and then returned alone to the United States. They cover a large portion of the city in their search but when they finally locate him, Mary learns it wasn't worth it. And Ed still has a payment to make.