Cleo Borden grew up in a saloon, loves the men—and the men love her—but her aspirations lead her to enter into a contract to marry a wealthy man. When he dies and leaves her all of his fortune, she soon learns that although she has money, she is not yet a lady, so she embarks on a journey to become one. She has no desire to change herself, but the man she sets her sights on does—so she obliges.
A bandleader tries to romance a dancer by sending her boyfriend, a musician, out of town. However, things get complicated when he finds out that a gangster has designs on her too.
Fredric March essays a dual role in this story of a ne'er-do-well who impersonates his brother when the latter dies.
