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After the three Charters sisters, Pamela, Moira and
Elizabeth, receive a small inheritance, they leave their Kansas chicken farm
for Santa Barbara, California. At a fancy hotel, Pam poses as a wealthy
socialite, with Moira playing her maid and Liz her secretary, in order to
find a rich husband. They learn from bartender Mike Brophy that likely
candidates are rancher Steve Harrington and Van Dam Smith, who comes from a
socially prominent family.
The next day, Pam arranges to meet Steve and Van,
and the young men quickly become enamored of her. Both men accompany her on
a whirlwind succession of dinners and dances and jealously fight for her
attention. Meanwhile, Mike and Moira fall in love and become engaged. When
the sisters realize that they are out of money and will be $100 short even
if they check out the next day, Pam convinces Moira to borrow the money from
Mike. Pam tells her suitors about her imminent departure, hoping that her
announcement will induce one of them to propose. Liz accompanies Pam, Steve
and Van on their dinner date and keeps Steve distracted long enough for Van
to propose.
Pam, who is really in love with Van, confesses to him that she
is not wealthy and that she came to Santa Barbara to find a rich husband. He,
in turn, reveals that his family is penniless and that he also came to seek a
well-off spouse. Pam promises that their love will be wealth enough, but Van
insists that she pursue Steve in order to realize her dream of a better
life. Heartbroken, Pam returns to her room, while Van gallantly informs
Steve that Pam is in love with him. Steve rushes to Pam and proposes and,
after she accepts, the sisters prepare to drive with Steve to his ranch. While they are packing, Mike overhears them discussing their success and
angrily denounces them as gold diggers. They lock him in the bathroom
so that he does not inform Steve of their deception and then go to the
ranch; there they meet Steve's high-spirited sister Miriam.
The next night, the
young people go to a club. Van is also there, and Miriam flirtatiously
invites him to stay at the ranch, much to Pam's dismay. Pam is more shocked
the next day upon discovering that Miriam has hired Mike as a waiter. Mike
admonishes the sisters to act like ladies or else he will reveal their
schemes, and soon everyone is planning for the wedding, which is to be held
the next day.
After a celebratory party that night, Pam realizes her love
for Van outweighs all else, and she rushes to his room. Van agrees that they
must marry and, after Steve finds them kissing, he realizes that he is
actually in love with Liz, with whom he has more in common than with Pam.
Liz joyfully accepts Steve's proposal, and Moira reveals that she and Mike
were secretly married the day before. Mike, who was working in Santa Barbara
merely to "experience" life, informs his new sisters-in-law that he and his
bride will be going to Montana, where he owns a huge ranch. The correctly
paired couples laugh and embrace, while Miriam bemoans her still-single
status. |
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