Francie and Neely are sister and brother living in Brooklyn. Their mother is Katie Nolan, and their father is Johnny Nolan. Johnny is a singing waiter, and gets drunk (“sick”) a lot. The Nolan family is not rich; in fact, they are poor. They live in a slummy part of town. Francie even has to lie to get into a better school.

Katie’s sister, Aunt Sissy, has a reputation for being a man-chaser. She has just gotten remarried at the beginning of the story.

Katie Nolan finds out she will have a baby, and they move to the upstairs apartment so the rent will be cheaper. Their insurance agent hears a rumor that Aunt Sissy is also pregnant. When Katie tells Johnny that she’s having a baby and Francie will have to get out of school to work, he gets slightly upset and goes for a walk. A little while later, a policeman came and said that Johnny was sick. He died in a hospital of pneumonia.

Mr. Magarity, the owner of a bar, came by and offered Francie and Neely a job after school. They took it, and got to continue on with their schooling.

Aunt Sissy has her baby, and it’s healthy. Katie has her baby, and it’s a girl and healthy. Her name was Annie Laurie.

Francie and Neely graduate from school, and the same day a boy asks Francie for a date.

Mr. MacShane, a local man, asks Katie to marry him, and she accepts.

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This movie occurred during the Great Depression in the 1920’s. There were several business institutions in the story. A few of them were an insurance agency, markets, schools, unions, barber shops, hospitals, restaurants, and Christmas tree venders.

Many people during this time didn’t have a lot of money, and they did the best they could. Money wasn’t wasted. These businesspeople worked very hard, and there wasn’t much variety in the business world.