Three sailors, Gabey (Kelly), Chip (Sinatra) and Ozzie (Munshin) - who are on 24-hour shore leave - want to find some "good-looking broads" with whom to taste the Big Apple. Gabey falls for the current "Miss Turnstiles" - the monthly calendar girl featured on the subway who, this month, is Ivy Smith (Vera-Ellen). Chip is pounced on by Hildy (Garrett), a "let's get physical" taxi driver, and Ozzie is snapped up by museum researcher Claire (Miller) who sees him as her missing link to Neanderthal Man. Once Gabey finds Ivy, the three couples set out to have a good time - which they do, judging by the number of New York City cops who end up chasing after them.

A ballet by Jerome Kern led to a 1944 Broadway hit by Betty Comden and Adolph Green (who also played Claire and Ozzie in it) who went on to write the screenplay after MGM bought the play. Much of the movie was filmed on location (unheard of at that time) in New York, including the scenes in the old Brooklyn Navy Yard and those on top of the Empire State Building - tough on Munshin who was afraid of heights. Great numbers from Leonard Bernstein's score include "New York, New York", "On the Town", "Prehistoric Man" and "Main Street".