Marlowe Mansfield Booth, scion of an illustrious stage family, is a histrionic failure because he loses his voice when faced with an audience of more than ten people. While seeking a cure, he meets the love-starved Martha Madison, who runs a destitute drama school that she inherited from her relatives. Determined to keep the school from becoming a shoe factory, Martha mortgages her house to pay her creditor, the stingy Mr. Fishbeck, and assisted by a group of stranded stage performers, she announces that the school is ready for business. Marlowe is appointed president, and Betty McGlen, an actress, is put in charge of a course in romance. When students fail to appear, Martha's ex-butler, Henry, suggests that the school needs a football team. By offering a course in romance, the school attracts a host of football players from various colleges, including Bill Anders, who is attracted to Betty. Aided only by a book on how to coach football, Marlowe manages to forge a team, but because he can face no more than eleven people at once, he refuses to allow substitute players. When all the legitimate schools refuse to play against her team, Martha hires a professional team to put on an exhibition game and bets every cent on her team, hoping to win enough to pay off the school's debts. The pros are walking away with the game when Martha cleverly bets Fishbeck $1,000 for every touchdown her team scores, and then makes the same wager with the captain of the pros. All goes well until Fishbeck cancels the wager after he begins losing and Martha's bribe money dries up. The professionals then go on a scoring spree, and all seems lost when Bill is injured. Marlowe, however, accidentally injests some alcohol and, thus fortified, enters the game. In a whirlwind finish, he wins the match for his school.
