Dan Emmett and Jean Mason sit beneath a spreading magnolia tree in the garden of her home as he sings "Sunday, Monday or Always." The house behind them is ablaze, and though he hurries off to the fire station for help, the building burns to the ground. Jean's angry father Mr. Mason blames the singer for leaving his pipe in the hall, and forbids Dan from seeing his daughter again. Dan explains that he hopes to marry Jean once he finds success as an actor and composer, but Mr. Mason, sure he will fail, will only consent to the marriage if Dan returns successful within six months.
Dan heads to New Orleans, and on a riverboat he performs, singing "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot." He meets Mr. Bones who cheats him at cards and wins $500. After Bones leaves, Dan discovers the cards were faked; they meet again in New Orleans and he demands the money back. Bones denies cheating but offers to put him in his act. They can't afford a meal; they are assaulted, and Bones leads him to the boarding house run by Mr. Cook and his daughter Millie Cook. Neither Bones nor two other boarders can pay their rent, and Millie refuses to let Dan stay until Mr. Cook intervenes; he tells him the manager of Maxwell Theatre has said Bones could try out his act that evening.
On the stage, the four perform; the other two boarders sing "Laughing Tony" to Bones, but he refuses to let them join the act. Dan reminds Bones of the promised place in the act; Bones insists that his act is a single, until Millie threatens to lock him in his room unless all four appear. She suggests that to cover their battered features they should use black make-up.
On stage, the four sing "Old Dan Tucker" and "The Last Rose of Summer" with minstrel-style patter, and Dan sings "She's From Missouri." They are successful, and Millie becomes attracted to Dan who, however, tells her about Jean. The act continues to do well and is enlarged to a twenty-four artist minstrel show, with Mr. Cook joining as the only white-faced member.
Although Dan is also attracted to Millie, he tells her he will remain loyal to Jean and Millie, in a fit of pique, agrees to marry Bones. The new minstrel show opens: the company sings "Minstrel Show" and "Buffalo Gals," while Dan sings "A Horse That Knows the Way Back Home." At a celebration supper, Dan and Millie make up their quarrel, but the sound of fire bells and a burning theatre, caused by Dan's pipe, puts them all out of a job.
Dan returns to his home-town to find that Jean has been stricken with paralysis and will never walk again. He insists on going through with the marriage, and they travel to New York City. In New Orleans, Bones again asks Millie to marry him, and they learn that the theatre will be repaired in three weeks' time. When Dan sings his new song, "If You Please," to Jean, she suggests that he tries to sell his songs, but a publisher refuses "Dixie" when Dan sings it for him. He manages, however, to sell ten other songs for 100 dollars, but refuses to part with "Dixie" when he is offered only one dollar for it.
Mr. Cook arrives and tells Jean of Dan's success in New Orleans, inadvertently revealing the situation between Millie and Dan. Cook urges Dan to return to New Orleans and join a new show of forty artists; when Jean supports this plea, Dan agrees. On their arrival in New Orleans, Millie is still angry with Dan until she sees that Jean is an invalid.
The new Minstrel Show is booked into the Opera House for three months, but when "Dixie" is sung by one of the minstrels, it is not well received. Jean suggests that it should be played at a quicker tempo, but Dan disagrees. Jean, under the impression that Dan is in love with Millie, tells her servant, Lucius, to place a letter of farewell in Dan's dressing room. The show proceeds, and Dan and the company sing "Sunday, Monday or Always" while the minstrels sing "She's From Missouri"; Millie, backstage, tells Bones that she will marry him that night and breaks the news to Jean.
On stage, Dan and the company sing "Dixie" while his pipe, once again left lying around, starts a fire. As the tempo of the song speeds up, the entire audience joins in the rousing chorus. The fire burns Dan's dressing room and Jean's valedictory letter.
