In a story told in a series of Flashback (narrative)s, singer Marian Washburn (Maureen O'Hara) loses her voice. Aided by her pianist, Luke Jordan (Melvyn Douglas), they promote a young singer, Susan Caldwell (Gloria Grahame). When Susan decides to quit the business, she is shot and seriously wounded in the Park Avenue apartment in New York that she and Marian share. When the police arrive, Marian confesses.