Springtime in the Rockies

During the thirty-fourth week of their Broadway smash, dancer Vicky Lane, Betty Grable, waits for her partner Dan Christy, John Payne, who is late as usual. Vicky suspects he’s pulling off another scheme, thinking he’s buying her an engagement ring, but her anger erupts when she discovers he has been on a date with Marilyn Crothers, Trudy Marshall. Fed up with Dan’s wandering eye and lack of consideration, Vicky quits the show and returns to her former dancing partner and true love, Victor Prince, Cesar Romero, who is still deeply in love with her.

Three months drift by while Dan sinks into a bleak depression, unable to find a backer for his new production. His agent, known simply as the Commissioner, urges him to win Vicky back, insisting that financiers Bickel and Brown will fund the show only if Vicky returns to the stage. Dan remains doubtful, especially since Vicky is about to begin a fresh engagement at the Lake Louise resort in the Canadian Rockies with Victor and the band Harry James and His Music Makers. The Commissioner outlines a plan: woo Vicky discreetly so she comes back, and keep the backers’ involvement quiet until they reach New York. He even orders bartender McTavish to help steer the drunken Dan onto the next flight to Lake Louise.

When Dan comes to, he finds himself at the Canadian resort, where he learns he has hired McTavish, an eccentric with a wealthy aunt who bankrolled him through multiple degrees, as his valet and Rosita Murphy, formerly working in a Detroit airport souvenir shop, as his secretary. The two newly minted aides set the stage for a complicated, comic ballet of mistaken loyalties and romantic subterfuge. Dan meets Vicky, who proudly displays the engagement ring she received from Victor, and he begins to hatch a plan to rekindle her interest by romancing Rosita. The ploy appears to work at first, but the truth starts to unravel when Rosita herself catches the eye of Victor, even though she seems to prefer McTavish.

Meanwhile, Vicky’s close friend Phoebe Gray, Charlotte Greenwood, becomes entangled in the same web of affection and flirtation, fueling a period of playful chasing and sharp quarrels among the couples. One night, Dan barges into Vicky’s room and refuses to leave, even as she calls for Victor. He hides, but Victor eventually discovers him and accuses Vicky of infidelity, prompting her to break off the engagement. The emotional storm settles, and Vicky and Dan eventually reconcile. Dan proposes marriage and promises honesty, but Vicky is ready to depart the next morning and urges a New York honeymoon instead.

Before they can leave, the Commissioner, Bickel, and Brown arrive and spill the truth about the backers’ plans, casting doubt on Dan’s intentions. Sensing the same old manipulation, Vicky confronts the situation, and Rosita steps in to covertly defend Dan, convincing Vicky that the trip to California was meant to be a honeymoon, not a ruse. Yet the financial stakes loom large: Bickel and Brown are not backing down, and Rosita must persuade McTavish to invest a portion of his inheritance in the show to keep it afloat.

As the curtain rises on the final act, the show—now restructured with Vicky and Dan as the star couple—opens to a confident crowd. They are supported onstage by Victor, Rosita, McTavish, and Phoebe, with the musical energy of Harry James guiding the numbers. The production finds its footing through a blend of romance, ambition, and the backstage hustle that stitched together dreams and reality, delivering a finale that ties together love, loyalty, and the long arc of a show that endured through miscommunications and a chorus of well-timed misunderstandings.

Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 11:00