After William Watts is fired from his job as a clerk in the city marriage bureau, he is encouraged by his loving neighbor, Cynthia Douglas, to start his own "matrimonial" business by advertising his matchmaking skills in the newspaper. Flooded with responses, William's business soon blossoms into a prosperous enterprise, which is aided by the legal expertise of sometime taxicab driver Bramwell Van Dusen. William's ability at matchmaking attracts the attention of "Big" Barney Nolan, the crooked president of the Civil Betterment Bureau, who tries unsuccessfully to buy out the company. While a frustrated Nolan orders Clem, the district attorney, to "investigate" William, Van Dusen's ex-wife, Allie Summers, threatens to expose their divorce to the straightlaced William unless she is introduced to a millionaire Oklahoma bachelor named Don Beldon. Although William decides that Cynthia, who is now working as his receptionist, should be the "unsullied" match for Don, Allie forces herself on the innocent oilman. To divert Allie, William tricks her into taking an overnight boat cruise with him, and consequently, Cynthia, believing that William is Allie's lover, agrees to marry Don. After Allie accuses Don of seducing her during a drunken date, however, William insists that Don marry Allie instead of Cynthia. Don then reveals that his real name is Diker and telephones the district attorney to tell him of the apparent fraud. Unaware that the police are raiding his business, a disillusioned William goes to see Nolan with an offer to sell. Nolan, also uninformed, hands William a $25,000 check, only to learn later that his purchase is worthless. With the office in ruins, Van Dusen asks Allie to remarry him, and William finally proposes to Cynthia.