A comedic tale of struggling actors, a returned playwright, and chaotic family intervention over a shared apartment and a forgotten play.
Story Structure — 4 Plot Phases
The Shared Apartment
Struggling young actors share an apartment to make ends meet. The landlady provides them with a play script left behind by a former tenant.
Key Events
Actors Share Apartment — Struggling young actors share an apartment to make ends meet.
Location: Shared Apartment
Landlady Provides Play — The landlady gives the actors a play left by a former tenant.
Location: Shared Apartment
Play Origin Revealed — Actors learn the play was left by a destitute, evicted tenant.
Location: Shared Apartment
Landlady's Role Clarified — The landlady kept the first play when the tenant was evicted.
Location: Shared Apartment
Actors' Financial Struggle — Struggling young actors share an apartment to make ends meet.
Location: Shared Apartment
The Play's Discovery
The actors learn the play was written by a destitute, evicted tenant who is now a successful producer. They decide to pitch it to him.
Key Events
Play Origin Revealed — Actors learn the play was left by a destitute, evicted tenant.
Location: Shared Apartment
Benchley's New Status — The former tenant is now a successful theater producer and playwright.
Location: Old Haunts
Benchley Recharges — He takes a room in his old haunts to rewrite his first play.
Location: Old Haunts
The Tattletale Visit
Cousin Muriel visits the apartment, discovers the mixed-gender cohabitation, and tattles to her parents using her distinctive voice.
Key Events
Actors Pitch Play — The young actors attempt to sell his own play to him.
Location: Old Haunts
Muriel Visits — Cousin Muriel arrives and discovers the sinful cohabitation.
Location: Shared Apartment
Cohabitation Exposed — Muriel uncovers the mixed-gender living arrangement.
Location: Shared Apartment
Muriel Tattles — She tattles to her folks using her unique little-girl voice.
Location: Shared Apartment
Muriel's Tattletale Voice — Highlighted by her unique little-girl, tattletale voice.
Location: Shared Apartment
Chaos and Resolution
The parents arrive to investigate, drag the daughters home, and cause mayhem. The actors ultimately sell the play and find resolution.
Key Events
Muriel Tattles — She tattles to her folks using her unique little-girl voice.
Location: Shared Apartment
Parents Arrive — Her folks charge over to investigate the situation.
Location: Shared Apartment
Investigation Begins — The parents charge over to investigate the living arrangement.
Location: Shared Apartment
Daughters Dragged Home — The parents drag the daughters home from the apartment.
Location: Shared Apartment
Silliness and Mayhem — Silliness and mayhem ensue, propelled by Muriel's actions.
Location: Shared Apartment
Play Sold — The actors successfully sell the play to the producer.
Location: Old Haunts
Benchley Rewrites Play — He recharges his creativity and rewrites his first play.
Location: Old Haunts
Apartment Chaos — Silliness and mayhem ensue as the parents investigate.
Location: Shared Apartment
Final Reconciliation — The story concludes with the play sold and creativity restored.
Location: Old Haunts
Story Breakdown
Actors' Struggle — Introduction to the six struggling actors sharing an apartment to survive financially.
Shared Living — Three males and three females cohabitate to make ends meet.
Financial Pressure — The group faces economic hardship typical of conservative times.
Landlady's Intervention — The landlady provides a script that becomes the central plot device.
Script Discovery — A play left behind by a former tenant is handed to the actors.
Keeper's Role — The landlady kept the first play when the tenant was evicted.
Benchley's Return — The former destitute tenant reappears as a successful industry figure.
Status Transformation — Robert Benchley is now a successful theater producer and playwright.
Creative Recharge — He takes a room in his old haunts to rewrite his first play.
Muriel's Discovery — Cousin Muriel visits and uncovers the unconventional living arrangement.
Cohabitation Exposure — Muriel discovers the sinful cohabitation of the young actors.
Tattletale Action — She uses her unique little-girl voice to report the situation.
Parental Intervention — Muriel's parents arrive to investigate and enforce traditional norms.
Investigation Charge — The parents charge over to investigate the apartment.
Daughters Removed — The parents drag the daughters home from the shared space.
Comedic Resolution — The chaos resolves into a successful transaction and restored creativity.
Play Sold — The actors successfully sell the play to the producer.
Mayhem Conclusion — Silliness and mayhem end as the story reaches its comedic close.
For those, if any, who have wondered why so many Paramount contractees appeared in United Artists' films during the war years, this is another one of the Paramount productions that was sold to United Artists in the early-40's when U.A. was having trouble meeting their exhibitor contracts because of lack of product, mainly due to their loss of production in England. A group of starving, but young and willing, actors band together to share finances and an apartment. Norman Reese (William Holden) orders no love nonsense between the boys and girls till they are set on broadway, but Marge Benson (Barbara Britton) and Tony Dennison (James Brown) are already secretly married. A friend drops in to see Dottie Coburn (Martha O'Driscoll) and is shocked to find the boys and girls sharing the same apartment and insists it is her duty to inform Dottie's father (Jay Fassett.)
