After two decades of service to his employers, gold bullion carrier Henry Holland (Alec Guinness) decides to run off with more than a million pounds worth of the stuff. After convincing his sculptor friend Alfred (Stanley Holloway) to help him melt down the gold and mold it into a small Eiffel Tower, Henry sends the statuette ahead of him to Paris, only to discover it was one of six miniature towers bought by a group of schoolgirls.