Jimmie, a shady bookie, meets Pearl, a taxi dance hall girl. He takes her out on several dates, pretending to be a high profile producer. She is happy to spend his money extravagantly but refuses to be his girlfriend. To get revenge, Jimmie promises to make her a Broadway star and becomes her manager. He takes her to expensive dinners and meetings with people in the top entertainment circles.
Jimmie tricks Pearl into signing a contract under which most of her earnings go to him. He persuades a defunct Gilbert and Sullivan troupe to re-form, obtains an empty theatre for a night, and fills it by blackmail. They play The Mikado, which is deservedly a hit. Overwhelmed with regret over his deceit, he proposes, and she, overwhelmed with gratitude over his support, accepts.
Grand National Pictures obtained a license from the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company for the copyrights to use the Gilbert and Sullivan words and music in the film for distribution in the United States. It was stipulated, however, that if the film was to be distributed in the British Isles and elsewhere, then music from American operettas was to be used instead, because the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company was still touring the Gilbert and Sullivan operas at that time.[2][3]
