Unable to secure financial backers for their new Broadway play, producers Don Avery and Geoffrey Crandall are about to abandon their endeavors when they are visited by wealthy Eileen Drake, the fiance of their leading man, John Carter. Eileen pleads with Avery and Crandall to continue their search for a backer because John refuses to marry her until he has a job. The producers try to convince Eileen to invest in their play, but she tells them that her fortune is held in trust by her reclusive aunt Hattie, who is dominated by her imperious business manager, Harvey Parker. Learning that Hattie has sequestered herself in the house for thirty years while waiting for the return of her long-lost love, Charlie Farley, the first mate on a whaling ship, Avery and Crandall decide to pose as Charlie's mates and visit Hattie. After informing Hattie of her beloved Charlie's demise, Avery and Crandall present her with Charlie's most cherished possession: a play that he wrote for her