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On the eve of the opening of his latest Broadway show, producer-songwriter Jordan Blake is so busy making last minute changes that he does not have time to talk with his teenage son Jerry.  Jerry and his schoolmate, David McKenzie, wait patiently to see Jordan, even when he is at home rehearsing a new number with his star, Carolina Hill.  At the end of the private session, Jordan, a longtime widower, admits his love to Carolina, and she responds with a kiss.  After all but promising Carolina a marriage proposal after the opening, Jordan says goodnight but is intercepted by Jerry and David.

Excited, Jerry and David tell Jordan about the musical revue they put on at Spaulding, their preparatory school, and ask to audition one of the songs.  Jordan listens politely to Jerry's composition, but when Jerry asks for $240 to have a fly-by-night company publish it, Jordan tells him that the song is trite and hackneyed.  Jerry, who is secretly in love with Carolina, is crushed by his father's words and bristles when Jordan states that Jerry is not old enough to know loneliness.  Although Jordan assures his son that he will become a better songwriter once he has experienced life, Jerry is despondent and fails to show up for opening night.

Concerned, Jordan leaves the theater during the performance and drives to Spaulding.  There, Jerry accuses Jordan of neglecting him as a child, a charge Jordan does not deny.  Before Jordan can discuss the situation any further, however, he gets a call from his chauffeur, informing him that Jordan's teenage daughter Barbara has been arrested.  Jordan and Jerry race back to New York, where, in night court, Barbara explains that her governess, the alcoholic Mrs. Angevine, got her involved in a fight with a policeman.  After Jordan dismisses Mrs. Angevine, Barbara laments her departure, as she had hoped that the matron could help her get into St. Hilary's, an exclusive finishing school.  Upset by the evening's events, Jordan tells Carolina during an opening night party that the "question" he was going to ask her will have to wait until he sorts matters out with his children.

To accomplish that, Jordan takes both children to a mountain resort, intending to spend time alone with them.  Fearful that Jerry has been spying on some girls, Jordan has a heart-to-heart talk with him, but Jerry, who is unaware of Carolina's relationship with his father, assures him that he has a girl friend in the city.  Barbara then informs her father that the St. Hilary's summer camp is across the lake, and Jordan, who has just met Allida de Bronkhart, an older woman who works at the camp, offers to help get an introduction to the headmistress.  Barbara declines the offer, however, as she fears that the exclusive school will frown on an entertainer.  To Jordan's relief, Carolina flies in for a visit and agrees to have a talk with Jerry.  During a boat ride with Jerry, Carolina brings up the subject of marriage, and Jerry, assuming that she is referring to them, gives his enthusiastic approval.

Believing that Jerry has endorsed her marriage to his father, Carolina reassures Jordan and returns to New York.  Later, Jordan drops by the girls' camp and, not realizing that she is the headmistress, asks Allida for tips on how to get accepted to St. Hilary's.  In response, Allida invites him and Barbara to an upcoming summer tea.  Later, in New York, Jerry asks Carolina out to dinner, and Carolina happily takes him to a diner.  Still oblivious to his feelings, Carolina is startled when a very earnest Jerry brings up their "May-December romance."  Carolina leaves suddenly, and after she refuses to see him at the theater, Jerry goes home and starts to write a melancholy song.  In the mountains, meanwhile, Jordan and Barbara attend the St. Hilary's tea, where Jordan performs one of his old vaudeville tunes, to the bemusement of the trustees.  Sure that her chances of acceptance have been ruined, Barbara runs from the party in tears.  Chagrined, Jordan apologizes to Barbara and Allida, who reveals that she is St.  Hilary's headmistress and assures him that Barbara has been admitted to the school.

Back in New York, Carolina finally tells Jerry that she is in love with another man, but declines to say who.  Carolina then meets Jordan at the train station and, after accepting his proposal, which is overheard by a reporter, informs him about Jerry's romantic plight.  Jordan tries to comfort his heartbroken son and offers to publish his new song, which is genuinely good.  Jerry rejects Jordan's overtures, however, and is devastated when Barbara calls, having heard the news of their father's engagement on the radio.  Jerry runs away and enlists in the Air Force.

Months later, Jordan, in an attempt to reconcile with his son, begins a U.S.O.  tour and winds up at Jerry's base in Alaska.  Unaware that Jerry is in the audience, Jordan delivers a moving speech about the wonders of parenthood, then is delighted when both Jerry and Carolina appear at his side.