Three Men and a Baby

Architect Peter Mitchell, cartoonist Michael Kellam, and actor Jack Holden are happy bachelors in their shared New York apartment, with frequent parties and flings. The film begins with Michael creating a series of murals within the vestibule to their apartment, while bringing various women up to their apartment. One day, a baby named Mary arrives on their doorstep with a note revealing she is the result of Jack's tryst with an actress named Sylvia during a Stratford Festival Shakespearean production a year prior. Jack is in Turkey shooting a B movie, and makes arrangements with Paul Milner, a director and colleague, to have a package delivered to the apartment. Jack asks his roommates to keep the delivery a secret per his friend's wishes; when Mary arrives, they believe she is the "package". Peter and Michael are totally befuddled on how to care for Mary, and Peter leaves to buy supplies. Their landlady, Mrs. Hathaway, delivers a small box – the actual "package" of heroin – which Michael tosses aside. At first they struggle to care for Mary but get the hang of childcare, including diaper changes, baths, and feedings. Peter tries to get help from his on–off girlfriend Rebecca, but she shows no interest. Taking care of her has even interfered in their daily work schedule. Four days later, two drug dealers, Vince and Satch, arrive at the apartment for the package. Peter and Michael mistakenly give them Mary, along with a can of powdered milk the dealers believe is the heroin. Peter discovers the actual package; realizing the mix-up, he runs downstairs but trips, spilling the package's contents. He gathers up the drugs and confronts the men outside, causing a scuffle. A police officer on horseback intervenes; Peter rescues Mary, but the dealers flee with the can of powdered milk. The officer detains Peter and Michael at the apartment until Sgt. Melkowitz, a narcotics officer, arrives to question them. Jack calls from Turkey, but Peter and Michael are unable to talk openly as Melkowitz is listening in. They successfully hide the drugs, learning that Milner is a drug dealer. A suspicious Melkowitz puts them under surveillance. Mrs. Hathaway babysits Mary while Peter and Michael go to work, unaware that the drug dealers are watching them. Returning home, they find Mrs. Hathaway bound and gagged and the apartment ransacked by the dealers, but Mary safe; a note threatens, "Next time we'll take the baby". Peter and Michael continue to care for Mary, adjusting to "fatherhood" and growing attached. Peter incapacitates an intruder late at night, who turns out to be Jack, returning early after his movie role was cut. Jack assures Peter and Michael he knows nothing about the heroin or Milner's dealings. He initially denies his connection to Mary, but Sylvia's note convinces him he is Mary's father. Peter and Michael, now competent caregivers, are exhausted and frustrated from their around the clock babysitting, and pass all duties to a bewildered Jack, refusing to help him. Jack tries to get help from his mother, but she refuses him. After letting Jack suffer for a while, Michael and Peter help him, and together the three bachelors share babysitting duties. They even install a telephone in the shower after Peter and Michael fail to connect to Jack, in which they cut their date at the opera short. Later, they receive a news clipping in the mail – Milner has been attacked by Vince and Satch and hospitalized – with another threat: "Don't let this happen to you!" Peter, Michael, and Jack formulate a plan to trap the dealers, arranging a meeting. Jack, disguised as a pregnant woman, leaves the building with Mary, while Peter and Michael leave in a cab, followed by undercover officers, but manage to lose them in another cab driven by Jack. Peter meets the dealers at the top floor of a construction site while Jack is manning the power breakers to the elevators and watching Mary. Michael, hidden in the vents, records Peter's conversation with the dealers but loses his balance and falls into the room, and a chase ensues. They manage to trap the dealers in an elevator as the police arrive. With the recording, they prove their innocence to Melkowitz, and the dealers are arrested. Peter, Michael, and Jack fully embrace their role as Mary's guardians, until Sylvia arrives to take Mary with her to London. After she leaves with Mary, the three realize how desperately they miss the baby. Racing to the airport, they just miss Sylvia's plane for London. Hit with despair, they return home to find Sylvia and Mary inside their vestibule. Sylvia tearfully says she does not want to give up acting but must if she has to raise Mary alone. They invite her and Mary to move in; she graciously accepts, and the four live happily with the baby. They even add a new mural to their front entrance with the four pushing a stroller with Mary in it.