Bill Austin (Van Johnson) is a struggling author, working and living in a "slum flat" on W. 87th St. in NY with his wife and daughter, Bertie and Julie. Bertie (Janet Leigh) works as a dental assistant, until Bill's novel can get published and Julie (Claire Wilcox) is seven and 3/4 and does not like any of her food to touch. They are very happy (even though Bill does not realize it.) All of a sudden, Bill's agent, Lucinda Ford (Martha Hyers) takes Bill's novel viral: there a prestigious publishing house, a Broadway play and a Hollywood studio interested in Bill's novel. Success goes straight to Bill's head; Bertie is the same level-headed, unpretentious gal she always was. They move to a lovely house in So. Connecticut where their neighbours are the lively ex-wife of a Hollywood star, Fran Cabrell (Shelley Winters) and her "companion," the occupant of her guest house, Wylie Driberg (Ray Walston).