Charles is the owner of a photo-shop. He is not too friendly and spends his evenings alone, and one day he finally decides to get a social life. He meets elderly Florence, who is tormented by her gambling husband Lester and longs for the son Willie she hasn't seen or heard of for 20 years.

The life of Fanny Brice, famed comedian and entertainer of the early 1900s. We see her rise to fame as a Ziegfeld girl, her subsequent career, and her personal life, particularly her relationship with Nick Arnstein.