In the opening scene, TV reporter Howard Cosell, playing himself, covers the assassination of the president of San Marcos, an imaginary Central American banana republic.The scene shifts to the US, where lonesome loser Fielding Mellish (Woody Allen) works as a product tester. Fielding has the hots for Nancy (Louise Lasser), the girl collecting petition signatures door to door for the liberation of San Marcos, so he pretends to be interested in her cause. A relationship develops between them, but when she dumps him, he is devastated. He reckons he'll have to get very involved in the situation in San Marcos to win her back.In San Marcos, Fielding's ineptitude leads to his capture by the rebels who are fighting to overthrow the military dictator, General Vargas (Carlos Montalbán). Fielding is encouraged, despite his modest education, to become the rebels' figurehead. His mission is to solicit funding for the rebel cause, but he fails miserably.As a key figure in a revolution that America does not support, Mellish is no longer welcome in his own country. Wearing a disguise, he returns to America, where his ex-girlfriend has renewed interest in him, not knowing he is really Fielding Mellish. Things seem to be developing well for them until the CIA discovers that he is a representative of the San Marcos rebels.After a humiliating and politically charged trial, Mellish is fortunate to avoid imprisonment. He marries Nancy, who, remarkably, now admires him for making great sacrifices for a cause she believes in so deeply. In a final scene that echoes the movie's beginning, Cosell narrates the consummation of Nancy and Fielding's marriage and, in classic sportscaster style, interviews them in bed afterward. (They remain demurely covered throughout.)
Where is mellish no longer welcome?
His own country