After World War II, American serviceman and writer Jim Scott, William Lundigan, returns home to find that his well-meaning but impractical wife Connie has sunk his wages into a run-down apartment building in Gramercy Park, Manhattan. Connie hopes that owning and running a rental property will give Jim the freedom to write a novel, but he soon spends most of his days handling repairs, renovations, and tenant headaches, trying to squeeze every possible penny out of the old place.
Smooth-talking Charley Patterson, Frank Fay, a con artist who romances and swindles wealthy widows, moves into a vacant apartment and quickly becomes smitten with another tenant, the gentle widow Eadie Gaynor, Leatrice Joy. As Charley’s charm works its magic, Jim sees an opportunity to improve their finances by renting the next available unit to an old Army buddy. But when the soldier arrives, Connie is stunned to discover that the supposed friend is actually Roberta Stevens, a striking former-WAC nicknamed “Bobbie,” brought to life by Marilyn Monroe.
An FBI agent visits the Scotts to question what they know about Charley, but provides no answers. Later, while celebrating their third wedding anniversary at a fancy restaurant, they glimpse Charley dancing with a stranger, confirming that the man is still in town and up to his old tricks.
The couple’s troubles compound when a building inspector declares the exposed wiring in their aging structure a serious code violation, threatening condemnation if repairs aren’t completed within fifteen days. Charley and Eadie announce their engagement, and soon after they marry. Charley lends Jim the money needed to fix the wiring, but the total cost proves daunting enough that Jim contemplates selling the building to recoup his losses.
Connie’s jealousy flares as she fears Bobbie’s influence, and Jim’s mounting stress culminates in a night where he sleeps in Bobbie’s empty apartment after a broken hammock leaves him stranded in the yard. Bobbie returns the next morning before he wakes, and Connie leaps to the wrong conclusion, convinced that Jim and Bobbie spent the night together.
A newspaper exposé about Mrs. Frazier, who has been duped by an elderly Casanova thought to be Charley Price, sharpens Connie’s suspicions. The Scotts confront Charley, who does not deny his misdeeds but insists that he truly loves Eadie and has just finished his latest con. When Jim mentions the FBI visit, Charley prepares to flee, but the authorities arrest him first. As he’s led away, Charley reassures Eadie that she is the only woman he has ever loved.
Charley ultimately pleads guilty and arranges for Jim to be arrested for receiving the $800 he took from Mrs. Frazier. Jim is furious, but Charley explains that he has accepted a $5,000 deal to write a series of articles about his escapades, with Jim serving as the author. The articles become a bestseller, catapulting Charley into notoriety and providing Jim with a path to publication—albeit under strained circumstances.
Eighteen months pass before Charley is released from prison and reunites with Eadie. In the meantime, Jim and Connie, enriched by royalties from Charley’s escapades, renovate and beautify the apartment building. The final scene follows Eadie and Charley escorting their infant twin daughters on a stroll, a symbol of the slow, hopeful reconciliation that remains at the heart of this bittersweet tale.
