New York City businessman James C. Pidgeon (
Eugene Pallette) is on the verge of bankruptcy. His only hope is rich uncle Henry, who is on his deathbed. J.C.'s daughter Therese (
Ruth Terry) persuades the rest of the family to take in a charity case for the holidays, not out of the goodness of her heart but to impress her upper-class boyfriend Stephen Bates (
Robert Livingston) and his mother. From a newspaper list, they pick Anthony Marchand (
Joseph Schildkraut), an actor injured in a car accident at the height of his career 10 years before, who is now a broken-down drunk. J.C.'s son Reggie (
David Holt) returns with bad news: Uncle Henry left his $5 million estate to Florie Watson (
Ona Munson), a showgirl he had once seen perform as a child actress 30 years before in ''Uncle Tom's Cabin''. The will stipulates if Florie cannot be found within a reasonable amount of time, the estate goes to the Pidgeons. After bribing the sole
executor, J.C. conspires to limit the search to just placing newspaper ads for a week without mentioning the inheritance. Furthermore, the executor believes the woman is in New York City, not Denver, where Uncle Henry died. J.C. decides to look for Florie himself, so he can better keep the news from her. Marchand (awakening from an alcoholic binge) overhears the whole scheme and suggests he can probably find her easily through
Actors' Equity. Reggie worries about a blackmail attempt, but Marchand makes a seemingly heartfelt speech about honor and his gratitude to the Pidgeons. He then eavesdrops and walks away without his customary limp, but is spotted by Angela (
Anne Gillis), J.C.'s younger daughter. She lets him know that she is amused by his deception and he regains the limp. Marchand and Willie Crawford (
Raymond Walburn), J.C.'s freeloading brother-in-law, have little trouble locating Florie. Willie tells her that they are cousins and that the family wants her to spend the holidays with them. Florie recognizes Marchand's name and confides to him, one trouper to another, that she knows she is not related to the Pidgeons, but as she is broke and behind on her rent, she is eager to play along. After the search ends up on the front page of the newspaper, the Pidgeons hastily relocate to an isolated house in the country to keep Florie in the dark. When they arrive, they discover that all of their servants have quit. J.C., having been raised there, refuses to hire new ones, fearing that they may be people he grew up with. The family, with the exception of Angela, pitch in. Soon, even Angela is helping out. Meanwhile, two private detectives are closing in. When they show up at the house, they are lied to, but the detectives are not fooled and set about getting a
search warrant. That night Marchand alludes to the situation, implicitly comparing the family's deception to
Jacob Marley's misdeeds in
Charles Dickens'
A Christmas Carol before passing out from too much drink. All of the Pidgeons are ashamed of themselves and finally confess everything to Florie. Later, Marchand wakes up and departs, leaving a note explaining his divided loyalties. Florie tracks him down at a bar in the nearest town and tells him she is going to give half the money to the Pidgeons. ==Cast==