Working mom Eve Appleton (Kay Francis) runs a newsstand, raises her daughter, tends to her husband (John Litel), gets chastised by her mother-in-law (Vera Lewis) and dreams of the stage. When a lecherous famous actor offers to give Eve private instruction in the performance arts, Eves husband, Bill, arrives to rescue her virtue. A short scuffle results in the death of the actor, and Bill is quickly railroaded to the big house. Vowing to see her husband freed, Eve begins her ascent from small-town stage to showgirl to burlesque to vaudeville and then to Broadway. Along the way, she gives up custody of her daughter to a showgal pal, Tim (Minna Gombel), and falls for theater impresario Bert Ballin (Ian Hunter). Eve flees to London to escape her heart. Conquering the London stage, Eve finally confronts her past, but is it too late to put her family back together?