Tony Davis

When a young woman begins a romance with a drifter, her brothers plot his death so they will not lose her as a household servant.

Steve and Barbara (Fred MacMurray, Beverly Garland) honeymoon in a "remote" Mexican fishing village.

Bobbye Starr, loaded with diamonds, hides in the convent station wagon. She tells Sr. Bertrille and Sr. Jacqueline she is running away from Al Caine, who employed her as a sort of secretary. Although startled by Bobbye's appearance, Mother Superior hires her to fill in for her secretary who is ill. Caine, a notorious hood, and his henchman, Leo, find the station wagon near a library. They are about to bomb it but stop when they see the nuns. Meanwhile, Mother Superior discovers Bobbye's secretarial shortcomings. Caine, with candy and flowers, comes for Bobbye, who holds out for marriage. Caine stalks out. Later, Bobbye tells Sr. Bertrille she must go back to Caine, who might eventually marry her. Sr. Bertrille feels the only way is to make Caine jealous. She picks Carlos Ramirez as the rival. Carlos refuses but changes his mind when he meets Bobbye. Sr. Bertrille gets the message to Caine by skywriting. Carlos turns on the charm. Bobbye gets nervous when she sees Caine's car. The sisters feel they have done a good job of arousing Caine's jealousy. Then little Pedro shows them a magazine picture of Caine, captioned "Mr. Vicious." On the yacht, Carlos and Bobbye discover each other. Caine comes for Bobbye. Carlos' bravado turns to groveling when he learns Caine's identity. Caine's armed threats are interrupted when Leo warns that Sr. Bertrille is coming with police. When Carlos reminds him that a wife can't testify against her husband, Caine proposes to Bobbye. Later, Caine tries to duck out by hiding in the station wagon, but Sr. Bertrille and Sr. Jacqueline flush him out for the wedding.

Hoping to have the children of Santa Thomasina, a remote village, come to the convent school, Reverend Mother sends Sister Bertrille and Sister Jacqueline to visit. Before they arrive, men of a rival village change the sign at the fork in the road. When the nuns reveal they were invited by Pedro Caracol, the villagers revile him as the leader of bandits and pig stealers. Sister Bertrille decides to fly to the other village to check. She is seen taking off by Juanito, whose father thinks he is lying. Meanwhile, Pedro and his men raid the village and take the plaster image of Santa Thomasina, the patron saint. As Sister Bertrille returns, the villagers, seeing her in flight, take it as a miracle. Despite Sister Bertrille's protests, Francisco declares Santa Thomasina herself has come to lead them against their enemies. Then Pedro approaches with his "army." Each side claims his village is the real Santa Thomasina, owners of the image, and starts to battle. To settle the dispute, Sister Bertrille suggests she split the statue, each side to get half. As a compromise, they agree to set the image at the fork in the road, and name the villages East and West Santa Thomasina. The nuns are sure everything is peaceful until the rivals fight for the sisters to come to their village, and then for the honor of escorting them back to San Taco.

Pedro Mendoza, an elderly grocer, asks Sister Bertrille to read a love letter from a Miami widow. Sister Bertrille urges him to learn to read, but is surprised when he comes to school. Mother Superior decrees that Pedro can't stay, because Bishop Pool won't allocate funds to teach adults. To convince the Bishop, Sister Bertrille promises to have Pedro reading in a month. Backward, but thrilled by his first word, Pedro resolves to read for the Bishop. Sister Bertrille has doubts because Pedro can't tell an F from a P, and is confused by words that sound the same but are spelled differently. Pedro is ready to give up until he hears a sonnet by Elizabeth Barrett Browning and borrows the book from Sister Bertrille. The Bishop is impressed until he finds that Pedro can't read but memorized the poem. To prove he did learn to write, Pedro unrolls a huge banner, "Welcome Bish. Pool." To prepare for the Bishop's next visit, Sister Bertrille takes turns with Sisters Sixto and Jacqueline teaching Pedro day and night. Worn out, Pedro thinks it's worth it, until he reads that the widow is getting married to another man. Although bitter that reading brought unhappiness, Pedro discovers the world of books, including the ones in his store. He finds that his partner, Juan, has been robbing him. Moved by Pedro's impassioned speech, the Bishop recommends funds for an adult school. Middle-aged Matilde, with an eye for Pedro, joins the children in school.