Andy Tucker is fascinated by the theater. He has come to New York City from Athens, Illinois, hoping to invest in a theatrical play in order to double his money and buy the hotel he works in. Having just lost their backer, Alf Morgan and his partner, MacArthur, are delighted to take his money for forty-nine percent of the profits. Andy agrees to the deal, to the dismay of their secretary, Mary Mathews, who knows just how terrible their latest play really is. Former fan dancer Fanny Morgan, Alf's wife, is also convinced that the play is a sure-fire failure. The play opens out of town to general ridicule. Jennie Wolfe, the agent of star Jane Arden, complains to the producers about their treatment of Jane and Morgan blames everything on Andy. When Mary speaks up in Andy's favor, Morgan fires her. Andy then offers to buy the whole show from Morgan and MacArthur. He gets another $l0,000 from a fellow hotel man, Alvin Gussett, and they take the show to New York. On opening night, the audience again laughs in all the dramatic parts, but instead of a failure, the show is a surprise comedy hit. Then lawyer Gordon Fox announces that one of his clients is suing them for plagiarism. Andy is desolate. It seems that he will never make enough money to buy his hotel and Mary advises him to get out of the theatrical business. Just then Fanny breaks the news that Morgan is coming with a certified check to buy back the show. A moment later, MacArthur arrives with a certified check of his own. Mary negotiates with the men, who pay $50,000 each for the show seconds before Fox returns to press his lawsuit. Mary and Andy tell Alvin that they will return to Andy's home town to buy the hotel, and they convince him to invest his forty-nine percent of the play's profits in the hotel and run it with them.