Playwrights George (Barton Hepburn) and Steve (Roger Clark) and their
temperamental leading lady Valerie (Shirley Ross) want to produce an
operetta based on a Southern songwriter, but his granddaughter, Southern
lady Mrs Charteris (Elisabeth Risdon), who holds the rights to his estate,
insists the trio use nothing in their show that isn't proven by documents
written by her granddad ... and it seems, all of his documents paint him
as a saint rather than anything else and lack any good story for a show.
Eventually though, our playwrights meet Marcelle (Cheryl Walker), the
songwriter's other granddaughter from his second wife, and she paints the
man quite differently, as a passionate man and womanizer who offers all
the excitement needed for a good Broadway show ... however, there is no
proof - or is there?
Actually, Julie (Jane Farrar), Mrs Charteris daughter, is in possession
of the old man's secret diary that would prove Marcelle's version of the
man - and Julie is madly in love with Steve, but thinks he and Marcelle
are a couple ... so she hands the diary over to Marcelle to give it to
Steve and pretend it was in her possession.
Of course though, in the end Julie and Steve become a couple and the
operetty becomes a great success.
Weak love story with musical numbers, that just lacks any kind of
dramatic drive on a plot level. To a great extent, one just fails to
realize why it is such a good idea to write an operetta about the old
songwriter and what his big secret is (which is the driving force of the
story), while the actual love story between Steve and Julie just fails to
kick into gear, leaving the audience rather bored ...
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