Swing Out, Sister

Penelope Mariman works as a singer at Club Colby, a Broadway nightclub, under the name of Donna Leslie, as her blue-blooded family in Connecticut believes she is attending school in New York to prepare for an operatic career. Tim Colby, the owner of the club, has other plans for Penelope; he hopes to make her his wife. When she rejects his proposal, Tim suggests that Penelope go home for the weekend and think it over, despite the fact that her childhood beau, noted symphony conductor Geoffry Cabot, is returning to Connecticut at the same time. Like Penelope, Geoffry is secretly hooked on swing music, and longs to give up his classical career to play jazz trumpet. Penelope arrives at her family home with Pat Cameron, her friend and accompanist, just as Geoffry is addressing the local symphony society, which is headed by her aunt Jessica and uncle Rufus. Although the former sweethearts are initially cool to each other, things between the two heat up after Penelope sings for the group and Geoffry offers her a position with the symphony. Seeing Penelope kissing Geoffry, Penelope's relatives assume they are back together and announce their engagement. With two months left on her contract with Tim, Penelope manages to convince Jessica and Rufus to delay the wedding by claiming that she and Geoffry need to get reacquainted as well as prepare for the symphony opening. Meanwhile, Mrs. Bradstreet convinces her banker husband to withdraw his $20,000 donation to the symphony after Geoffry insults her singing, causing its possible cancellation. Geoffry is delighted by this turn of events, as cancellation would void his contract and allow him to start up his own jazz band. Penelope, however, goes to New York and borrows the necessary money from Tim, who is unaware of why she needs it. Hoping to break up Geoffry and Penelope by exposing her secret career, Tim invites Geoffry and the Marimans to Club Colby. Although Geoffry is delighted to learn about Penelope's jazz life, the singer thinks that he has brought her family to the club to embarrass her. Learning that Penelope, in a fit of anger, has agreed to elope with Tim, Pat tricks the nightclub owner into going to the Marimans while Geoffry heads for the justice of the peace. After various run-ins with the law, everyone ends up before the court of Mr. Gaston, who marries Geoffry and Penelope, as well as Pat and Chumley, Geoffry's assistant.