Burlesque queen Kitty Darling gives birth to a baby girl shortly after learning that her husband has been executed. A few years later, Kitty refuses the marriage proposal of her friend, comic joe King, because she dreams of "making it big" on Broadway, but takes Joe's suggestion to send her beloved April to a convent school. Years later, Kitty is an alcoholic who still dreams of Broadway. Her current lover, Hitch Nelson, is a two-timing gigolo who demands that Kitty send for the now seventeen year-old April when he learns that Kitty has been paying for the girl's education. April is disgusted by New York's seedy burlesque environment, but her love for Kitty makes her stay. When she meets Tony, a young sailor, they fall in love and want to marry, delighting Kitty but infuriating Hitch, who wants April to go on stage to support him now that Kitty is a has-been. Realizing that her career is over and Hitch has only been using her, Kitty sends April to Tony, then takes an overdose of sleeping pills. April returns to her mother after telling Tony that she won't marry him, then goes on stage when Kitty is too weak to perform. April is a success, but rushes offstage crying. Tony arrives, knowing that April didn't mean what she said earlier, and unaware that Kitty has just died, they decide to take her with them to Wisconsin.
