| Director | Walter Lang |
|---|---|
| Budget | $1.9 million |
| Box office | $1.7 million |
Bunny Watson is a documentalist (research librarian) in charge of the reference library at the Federal Broadcasting Network in Midtown Manhattan. The reference librarians are responsible for researching facts and answering questions for the Network's programing, news, and promotional departments on all manner of topics, great and small. Bunny has been romantically involved for seven years with rising network executive Mike Cutler, but with no marriage in sight.
Methods engineer and efficiency expert Richard Sumner is the inventor of EMERAC ("Electromagnetic MEmory and Research Arithmetical Calculator"), nicknamed "Emmy," a powerful early generation computer (referred to then as an "electronic brain"). He is brought in to see how the library functions, and size it up for installation of one of his massive machines.
Despite Bunny's initial intransigence, Richard is surprised and intrigued to discover how stunningly capable and engaging she is. When her staff finds out the computer is coming, they jump to the conclusion they are being replaced.
After an innocuous but seemingly salacious situation that Mike walks in on at Bunny's apartment, he recognizes the older Richard has emerged as a romantic rival, and begins to want to commit to Bunny.
Bunny's fear of unemployment seems confirmed when she and everyone on her staff receive a pink "layoff" slip printed out by a similar new EMERAC already installed in payroll. But it turns out to have been a mistake – the machine fired everybody in the company, including the president. The network has kept everything hush-hush to avoid tipping off competitors that a merger was in the works. Rather than replace the research staff, "Emmy" was installed to help the employees cope with the extra work.
With the threat of displacement out of the way, Richard reveals his romantic interest to Bunny, but she believes that EMERAC will always be his first love. He denies it, but then Bunny puts him to the test, pressing the machine beyond its limits. Richard resists the urge to fix it as long as possible, but finally gives in and forces an emergency shutdown. Bunny then accepts his marriage proposal.