Colleen 1936

Cedric Ames is the absent-minded and easily distracted president of a large business, with much of the operation run by his subordinates, including his nephew Donald Ames. When Cedric impulsively hires an assistant named Joe Cork, the new man quickly spots his boss as an easy mark.

During a tour of a candy company housed in one of the buildings he owns, Cedric meets Minnie Hawkins, a “chocolate dipper” who seems to have bigger ambitions. Influenced by his new assistant, he buys a dress shop for Minnie to manage, even though she’s portrayed as a gold digger. Donald tries to fix things by going to the dress shop to examine the books.

Colleen Reilly, the dress shop’s bookkeeper, is furious when Donald plans to close the shop. When newspaper headlines shout about “the businessman who bought a dress shop for a chocolate dipper,” Colleen seizes the moment to stage a fashion show. The spectacle draws in customers and begins to make the shop profitable for the first time. Colleen convinces Donald to keep the shop open. Donald invites her to dinner to discuss her plans, and she agrees—only to reveal that she is unexpectedly engaged to Joe Cork.

Joe begins to see Minnie, and the two conspire to have Cedric adopt Minnie so that Joe can marry her. Gossip columns soon pick up the story, shocking Alicia Ames and prompting Donald to close the shop. Yet love between Colleen and Donald persists, while Minnie and Joe are both fired.

In a bid for revenge, Minnie sues Cedric for five million dollars for breaking his promise to adopt her, and Joe sues Donald for five million dollars for stealing Colleen. Both settlements are bridged with $25,000 apiece. Colleen is fired by mistake and receives a check for $10,000 to drop any legal claims.

Donald tries to reach Colleen by phone to propose again, but she berates him and hangs up, devastated. Brokenhearted, she accepts an offer to open a dress shop on an ocean liner. It turns out Donald is aboard the same ship, along with Cedric and his wife, and the trio’s tensions soften as they reconnect. In the end, Colleen and Donald find each other again and become engaged, signaling a hopeful, if winding, conclusion to a comic saga of romance, ambition, and misadventure.