Harry Raymond, a washed-up vaudevillian, takes a job as song promoter for the Wagner music publishers. He is unable, however, to convince them his song ideas are worthwhile, and his conceit over a song submitted by showgirl Dolores Fenton gets him fired. His friend Jim, Dolores, and her friend Goldie work up an act that gets playing time until Harry riles the audience into a free-for-all. Then they split into duo teams and Harry and Dolores become a Broadway sensation with their number "With You." They become engaged, but prosperity goes to Harry's head, and he takes up with Mrs. Van Renssler, a thrill-mad socialite, and scorns his former friends at a Christmas Eve party. In a drunken frenzy, he is temporarily blinded by bad liquor but conceals his condition from Dolores. Jim takes him to the opening night of her show, and when the audience insists that she sing "With You," Harry joins her in the song from the balcony. Later, she forgives him, and they are happily reunited.