In the river town of New Martinsville, West Virginia, Jenny Hagen, a stage-struck diner waitress, daydreams about being a famous actress. She loves the diner’s pancake specialist, Orme Wilson, whose fancy flipping skills at the front window griddle attract passing customers. Jenny is shy and awkward around Orme, and a clumsy waitress besides. He calls her “Mouse” instead of Jenny. When she drops a tray during the factory rush, Jenny gives her usual excuse: “I just did it to be funny.” She secretly washes Orme’s clothes instead of taking them to the laundry, and when she irons a hole in his $3 shirt, she buys a $5 replacement. Knowing that Orme has dozens of actress photographs on the wall of his room, Jenny pays $5 for an acting correspondence course, which amounts to a few pages of instruction, and strikes poses in front of her bedroom mirror. One day, a whistle signals the arrival of the Water Queen, a river showboat, and impresario Waldo Buck greets the locals by introducing actress Lillian Lyons, the star of the show. Orme falls for the leading lady, and invites her to the diner for supper. When the actress arrives, Jenny studies her. Orme asks Jenny to help him with his kitchen chores, so he can spend time with Lillian, and she agrees only if he lets her help flip wheat-cakes at the town picnic the next day. That night, Jenny takes scissors to her clothing, refashioning them to match Lillian’s style. However, the following day, Orme is disgusted with Jenny’s heavy makeup, and Jenny gets into a tiff with Lillian, who looks down on waitresses. When Jenny tells Waldo Buck that she is an actress, he offers her a chance to recite a few lines of poetry on Saturday before the presentation of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, but first she must participate in a “Ladies Boxing Bout” with Lillian. To Orme’s surprise, Jenny announces she cannot attend the Water Queen festivities. On Saturday, as townspeople crowd into the showboat’s auditorium, Waldo Buck informs Jenny she must wear a stocking over her head because she is “the Masked Marvel.” Separately, Buck tells Lillian that Jenny will fall down after the first few punches. During the fight, however, Jenny accidentally knocks out Lillian, and the crowd goes wild. As Jenny recites her lines of poetry, Lillian gets up and hits her from behind. When Buck’s assistant throws Jenny out the stage door for not following the script, she hears Orme yelling at Lillian, but believes he is angry at her instead of the actress. In despair, Jenny jumps into the river. Orme leaps to her rescue, and as Jenny protests, he tells her: “Shut up, Mouse, I love you.” Together they open their own railroad car diner, “the Jenny,” which specializes in heart-shaped “Lovers Wheat-Cakes.”