Lillian Bennett runs a theatrical boarding house in New York City. She doesn't want her débutante daughter Helen Bennett, reared in finishing schools away from New York, to know of her own glamorous stage career or her present occupation, as she dreads the possibility Helen would want a stage career, and she encourages her to marry her wealthy suitor, Rodney Stokes. On an unexpected visit, Helen learns that the people Lillian introduces as her friends are actually stage performers paying board.