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Temperamental
theater impresario Oscar Jaffe changes the name of his newest discovery,
former lingerie model Mildred Plotka, to Lily Garland, and begins rehearsing
his latest play. Oscar drives Lily hard in rehearsal, bullying her and
even stabbing her with a pin to induce her to scream properly. His
harsh tactics pay off, however, and Lily is a smash.
On her opening night, Oscar humbly bids her
farewell, saying that a true star belongs to no man. The insecure Lily
falls for his act and begs him to stay with her. Thus begins their
professional partnership, which breeds three tremendously successful plays
in as many years as well as a tempestuous personal relationship.
Lily, driven to distraction by Oscar's egotism
and jealous possessiveness, wants to end their relationship, but collapses
in tears after a fight in which he fakes a suicide attempt. The next
morning, the repentant Oscar swears to her that he trusts her completely
but, after she leaves for rehearsal, he calls a detective, Oscar McGonigle,
and orders him to put Lily under surveillance, including reading her mail
and tapping her phone.
Time passes until, one afternoon, Lily does not
attend rehearsal. Oliver Webb, Oscar's business manager, reports this
to Oscar and tells him that he has asked a friend to trace the interference
on Lily's phone line. While Oscar reacts hysterically, a battered and
bruised McGonigle rushes in to report that Lily attacked him after
discovering the phone tap and that she has taken a train to Hollywood,
leaving Oscar and New York for good.
Oscar almost suffers a nervous breakdown but
recovers and attempts to build another unknown actress the way he did Lily.
She does not possess Lily's magic, however, and Oscar's productions flop one
by one. After a devastating failure in Chicago, Oscar, Oliver and Owen
O'Malley, Oscar's press agent, narrowly avoid the sheriff and board the
Twentieth Century train bound for New York. Oliver warns Oscar
that his creditors are going to take away the Jaffe Theatre.
Soon after, Owen discovers that Lily, whose
great Hollywood success has turned her into a temperamental eccentric of
Oscar's caliber, is on the train with her young boyfriend, George Smith.
Owen and Oliver discuss asking Lily to return to Oscar in order to save the
theater and, despite Oliver's trepidations, they go to her and hand her a
sob story about Oscar's woes. George becomes jealous and throws them
out for upsetting Lily, who refuses to work with Oscar again. Oscar is
pleased when told later that Lily is on the train, but becomes dismayed when
he sees George kissing her. While Oscar plots against George, the
conductors apprehend Matthew J. Clark, an odd little man who has been
placing "Repent Now" stickers on the train and its passengers. The
conductors have received a wire from Clark's nephew stating that Clark,
while harmless, is a lunatic who writes bad checks.
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Oscar meets two European actors who are the stars of the Passion Play, and
decides to produce the play in New York with Lily starring as Mary
Magdalene. Oliver searches to find a backer for Oscar's Passion Play
and comes up with Clark, who agrees to invest his pretended wealth.
Meanwhile, Lily asks George to elope, but he
rejects her and storms out after Oscar comes in and tells him that he was
once Lily's lover. Contented that he has now gotten rid of George,
Oscar proceeds to woo Lily by describing the role of Mary Magdalene.
She is not taken in by his extravagant musings, however, and tells him that
she is going to New York to sign with Max Jacobs, Oscar's former stage
manager who is now a successful producer. Lily throws Oscar out, but
he becomes optimistic again when Clark presents him with a check for
$250,000. Soon after, everyone concerned finds out the truth about
Clark, and Lily and Oscar try to outdo each other with their histrionic
fits.
Later that night, Oscar yet again plays at
suicide in front of Oliver and Owen. They leave in disgust, but rush
back after hearing a gunshot, the result of a struggle between Clark and
Oscar for the gun. Oscar receives only a slight flesh wound, but, with
Owen and Oliver's help, uses it as a ploy to convince Lily that he is dying.
Lily, who truly loves the rascal, agrees to sign Oscar's contract, with
which he wishes to be buried. Oscar revives immediately and, at their
first rehearsal of their new play, he treats her exactly as he had years
earlier. |
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