Calvin Claymore, Frank Morgan is a respected Washington industrialist turned philanthropist in 1941, passionately backing a Senate bill to feed the starving children of war-torn Europe. He faces stiff opposition from the sharp-tongued newspaper publisher, Hal Thorne, a man who fears the aid could be hijacked by fascist militaries and used for political leverage.
One draining evening after a grueling committee meeting, Claymore receives a doleful call from his wife, informing him that instead of returning home, she and their daughter Laurie Claymore, Ann Rutherford, will extend their globe-trotting for several more months. Heartsick, he tries to retreat to the quiet of his home, a ritual of solace that his secretary interrupts by coaxing a high-spirited U.S. Senator to join him at a surprisingly frisky nightclub. There, Claymore meets the very attractive Mary Morgan, Anne Gwynne, a performer in an entertainment troupe that blends dance and water ballet. He is a gentleman throughout the evening, and as the night ends he asks if he might see her again. Mary agrees, and the two innocently spend a summer wandering through the capital’s sights and public highlights, sharing conversations that reveal a warmth and companionship Claymore has been longing for.
As the season drawing to a close and the moment of his wife and daughter’s return approaches, Claymore visits Mary at her apartment. He leaves behind a warm note and several thousand dollars, insisting she use it to enjoy some of the nice things in life she has spoken of. Mary, though moved by the generous gesture, vows to return the money. Unbeknownst to them, Whitney King, the nightclub’s MC, has his own troubling agenda. Whitney, Dan Dailey, operates a coercive scheme aimed at keeping his “girls” hooked on wealthy patrons, a scheme that quickly turns deadly when he tries to force Mary to surrender the cash.
In the aftermath, a hunting-for-sin narrative erupts as Mary’s money and an incriminating note are found in a search of her apartment, and Whitney King becomes the target of Claymore’s blackmail to avoid scandal. Claymore’s return home is shadowed by the renewed relationship between Laurie and her would-be fiancé, Hal Thorne, stirring old political tensions as the two clash over the fate of the aid bill.
The plot thickens when a glove Claymore wore the night of Mary’s death is unearthed by one of Thorne’s reporters, triggering a fevered pursuit by the district attorney and the press to pin the crime on Claymore. Thorne uses the press as a tool to rally public opinion, even as the District Attorney Donnelly, Douglass Dumbrille, closes in. In a bid to shield Claymore, Thorne conspires to hide the incriminating glove, testing loyalties and political lines.
Laurie, ever the determined daughter, episodes a daring moment by posing as a cosmopolitan French coquette and slipping into King’s orbit, joining a dangerous game that also draws in Teddy Carlyle, Virginia Grey, a jealous dancer who is both Teddy and King’s partner. The night escalates when Teddy discovers the liaison, and King, in a fit of rage, shoots Teddy. Teddy survives only long enough to place the blame and name King as Mary’s murderer on her deathbed, a confession that shifts the investigation’s trajectory.
The next morning, Claymore takes the stand to testify before the Senate in support of his charitable plan, while the family stands united behind him. In a hard-won moment of reconciliation, father and future son-in-law (Laurie’s fiancé) clasp hands, though the battle over the bill continues in spirit. The film closes on a note of resolve: despite the personal cost and political battles, the Claymore family remains committed to pursuing relief for Europe’s children, united by love, duty, and a shared conviction to push the cause forward.
