In 1940, Gertrude "Gertie" Lawrence [Julie Andrews] is in a screening room watching a documentary about her life, and the film cuts back to Clapham in 1915, when she leaves home to join her vaudevillian father in a dilapidated Brixton music hall. From there, she makes her way to the chorus of André Charlot's West End revue, where a chance encounter with childhood friend Noël Coward [Daniel Massey] sets the stage for a remarkable rise.
Charlot [Alan Oppenheimer] grows tired of Gertie’s relentless effort to stand out, but stage manager Jack Roper [John Collin] steps in, securing her a role as a general understudy to the leads. She and Roper wed, yet it soon becomes clear that Gertie’s true calling lies on the stage rather than at home as a wife. While pregnant, she insists on going on for an absent star, delivering a show-stealing performance of "Burlington Bertie" that wins the audience and forces Charlot and Roper to acknowledge her talent. The moment confirms that Gertie belongs in the spotlight, even as her personal life keeps pulling her in new directions.
After the birth of their daughter Pamela [Jenny Agutter], trouble arises when Roper takes the baby on a pub crawl and disappears from the family. A subsequent romance with Sir Anthony Spencer [Michael Craig], an English nobleman, helps polish Gertie’s manners and reshape her image into a sophisticated social figure. A disastrous sick-day absence leads to a firing from Charlot’s revue, but Spencer’s influence keeps her career afloat as she becomes a cultivated society darling. Noël Coward eventually convinces Charlot to include her in a new production, and the long path to stardom resumes with vigor.
Gertie’s ascent continues when the show opens in New York City; there, her charm attracts an actor and a banker, expanding the circle of admirers. Yet financial pressures threaten her hard-won glamour, and she must claw her way back from the brink to repay creditors and preserve her star status. Her personal life also suffers as the distance between her and Pamela grows, especially after Pamela cancels a planned holiday and Gertie’s alcohol-fueled rift at a surprise Coward party exposes vulnerabilities she must confront.
An American theatre producer, Richard Aldrich [Richard Crenna], returns with a candid appraisal after a tense night of rehearsals and observation. The encounter sparks a mix of insult and intrigue, drawing Gertie toward a possible marriage that leads her to Cape Playhouse for a pivotal prospective lead. A clash with Aldrich during rehearsal becomes a turning point, and his proposal finally arrives only after a determined push from Coward.
Back on Broadway, Gertie wrestles with a crucial performance of "The Saga of Jenny" in Lady in the Dark, while Aldrich observes and pushes her toward a stronger, more confident interpretation. The night out with Coward reinforces the idea that Aldrich is a shrewd, capable partner for her future. The transformation culminates in a triumphant rendition of "Jenny," and Gertie’s marriage to Aldrich unfolds as a new union that foreshadows the bigger triumphs to come, including her later success in The King and I. Her life comes full circle with a lasting legacy, even as liver cancer claims her life at the age of 54, leaving behind a trail of glamour, resilience, and enduring artistry.
