Jenny Yates (Anne Shirley) dreams of following in the profession of her deceased actor parents, but her grandfather, Uriah Lowell, with whom she lives, strongly disapproves. One day, the chatty young woman strikes up a conversation with struggling painter/actor Phil Greene, Jr. He is associated with a summer stock company trying out a revival of an old melodrama, ''Virtue's Reward'', in Jenny's rural community before opening in New York City. Jenny is thrilled when he offers to give her a free ticket to that night's show, as her mother had acted in that very play.