- Michael Sullivan and his daughter Molly are vaudeville artists with moderate success. Their careers are hindered by Michael hating everything connected with radio, and Molly will not leave her Pops. Then a wealthy grandfather steps in.
- As private detective Fitzgerald is riding in a taxicab listening to the Tim Sullivan radio program, he reminisces to his fellow passenger about a time years before when he knew the hotheaded Tim and his daughter Molly: The two struggle as a vaudeville team, unaware that Fitzgerald has been hired by an unknown patron to act as their watchdog and ensure them high salaries and pay their debts. After Fitzgerald covertly helps them procure a job with Fulton's Follies, Tim promptly loses the position by refusing to perform on the radio, which he violently denounces as the destroyer of vaudeville. When the pair return to their hotel, they find that their property has been seized because of their unpaid bill, and they are forced to return to their home at Ma Cassidy's Boarding House. At Ma's, Tim and Molly reunite with their fellow vaudevillians, Emmet Rogers and his son Danny, both of whom now work prosperously at a local department store. Although Tim at first blanches at the thought of giving up show business, poverty soon convinces him to accept work with Emmet. As soon as the store manager places him in the radio department, however, Tim furiously destroys the merchandise and is jailed. When Tim's father-in-law, the radio broadcasting executive businessman James Carlton, bails him out of jail, Tim realizes that James has been helping him all along, through Fitzgerald, out of concern for Molly. Tim is angry, but allows James to convince him that Molly would be better off living with the Carltons, and soon persuades Molly to visit them, telling her that it will be temporary. After Ma bombards Molly with lessons on how to act like a socialite, Molly arrives at the Carltons' estate sporting a stiff upper-crust attitude and a fake patrician accent, which disappoints her lively cousin Vivian and Vivian's group of friends. It is not until Vivian lures Danny to the estate for a visit that Molly reveals her true, bawdy talents as an entertainer, thus charming the group. Meanwhile, Tim retires to the Actors' Home, where he plays horseshoes with other ex-vaudevillians. When the World Series airs on the radio, Tim is slowly seduced by the excitement of the live broadcast, and becomes a radio fanatic. A few weeks later, Molly visits him in time to appear in a big variety show. Although he misses Molly, Tim tries to convince her to stay at the Carltons', believing that she will be happier there. Molly, however, desperately misses him, and talks him into developing a new radio show, which will feature different vaudeville performers each week. Soon after, Tim pitches the idea to James, controlling his temper long enough to sell his ideas. During a test broadcast of their "On Stage Everybody" show, which Tim hosts, James introduces Molly to potential sponsors. Molly despairs when the sponsors decide that they must have a star as the host, and tearfully informs her father of this decision. In the present, Fitzgerald finishes his story, telling his cab-mate that after hundreds of letters poured in supporting Tim, he began his long and successful career as the host of the show.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content