After spending her formative years entertaining crowds while her grandfather (Frank Morgan) picked their pockets, Sylvia "Dimples" Appleby (Shirley Temple) catches the eye of a wealthy widow (Helen Westley), who hires her to perform at a society party. Despite grandpa's bad behavior (he steals openly from the party's guests), the show goes off so well that the widow wants to adopt Dimples. But can her grandfather afford to lose her?