In the small town of Carvel, the family of Judge Hardy (Lewis Stone) welcome eldest daughter Marian (Cecilia Parker) back from New York but are dismayed when she takes up with the local wolf. Hardy then asks his son, Andy (Mickey Rooney), to take out Melodie Nesbitt (Donna Reed), a teen at the center of a custody dispute. When Melodie develops a crush on him, Andy gets nervous. Meanwhile, Mrs. Hardy (Fay Holden) nervously suspects that she's being cheated on a mail-order gift for the judge.