Lovey Mary (Love) runs away from an orphanage with Tommy (Combs) so that he will not have to return to his bad mother. Lovey and Tommy stay at the home of Miss Hazey (Ogden), who is about to marry a man whom she knows only from correspondence.
Billy Wiggs (Haines) lives next door, and Lovey works with his sisters in a factory to earn money for herself and Tommy. On the day of Miss Hazey's wedding, her fiancee recognizes Lovey from the orphanage and reveals her true identity. Lovey and Billy plan to marry and adopt Tommy.[5][6]
To help her decide whether to participate in the film, MGM lent Bessie Love a copy of the novel Lovey Mary by Alice Hegan Rice in 1925—then-valued at $25 (equivalent to $430 in 2023). Love never returned the book.[7]