San Francisco

On 31 December 1905, a fire destroys a building at Barbary Coast. The next day, singer Mary Blake from Benson, Colorado, who lived in it, looks for a job at the Paradise gambling hall. The owner, Blackie Norton, is a ruthless but good man and hires her after he asks her to show her legs. He is also invited to run to the position of Supervisor of the Coast by his friends and acquaintances. When his competitor from Nob Hill, Jack Burley, and his friend, Maestro Baldini, hear Mary singing, Jack invites her to sing at his fancy Tivoli Opera House. However, she has a two-year contract signed with Blackie and is in love with him. But when the other artists from the Paradise see her with him and make malicious comments about her, she quits and goes to the Tivoli. On her debut there, Blackie goes there with an authority to call off the concert. He has an injunction against Jack since Mary is still under contract with him. However, when he hears her singing in the opera, he changes his mind and agrees to marry her. She returns to the Paradise but when Blackie's friend, Father Tim Mullin, sees her exposing her legs, he does not allow her to go to the stage. She works at the Tivoli and Jack proposes marriage to her. Meanwhile he uses his influence with the Powers That Be to close the Paradise and arrest the performers. During a musical competition between the clubs, Mary helps the Paradise with her presentation. However, it is 1906, the year of the famous San Francisco earthquake.