Yearning to escape the poverty of the Arkansas hills in the early 1900s, three of the Stuart children find their chances to escape into the worlds of the New York theater, international journalism, and a traveling carnival.

Although actress Lylah Stuart has a signed contract with Cecil B. DeMille, she worries about being a single parent. Meanwhile, her younger sister must find a new direction when tragedy strikes on the farm in Arkansas, and the eldest Stuart grandson becomes a stunt pilot and encounters notorious gangster Al Capone.