Three bachelors adopt an orphan, then fight over custody when each falls in love.
One day, in New York City's East Side, cantor David Irwin Feldman rescues an abandoned infant girl he has found on an apartment building stoop. After caring for the girl for a few days, David and his friends, Phillip Y. Andrews, a Protestant minister, and Patrick O'Donnell, an Irish American Catholic police officer, decide to adopt the girl jointly. Judge Martin O. Abercrombie consents to the adoption in the hopes that it will bring together the East Side Jewish, Protestant and Catholic communities. As part of the agreement, however, the judge stipulates that the first of the three men to marry shall become the sole and permanent foster father. After naming the girl Midge, the three bachelors take up the responsibility of rearing the girl. Time passes, and Midge, now a grade school student, suffers the taunts of her schoolmates when she tries to explain her "family" situation. When one of Midge's classmates, Lewis Keller, pelts her with a tomato, Midge loses her confidence and tells Phillip that she is ashamed that she has no mother. Later, Midge's teacher, Florence Bartlett, tells Phillip that she is opposed to their parenting "experiment" because it makes Midge "different" and mixes Midge up in three different faiths. Phillip, however, argues that the three faiths have a "common denominator," and that Midge is learning manners from Pat and singing from David. Realizing that he has not convinced Florence of the success he, Pat and David have had in rearing Midge, Phillip invites Florence to visit their home and see the results for herself. Phillip's plan works, and Midge changes her opinion about the unconventional family. While David falls in love with Florence, Pat begins courting "Shoo-Shoo" Grady, a street-smart singer at Bernie's Bar. Midge and Shoo-Shoo become fast friends, but their friendship is soon questioned by David when he sees Midge imitating the singer's sultry style. While David and Phillip prohibit Midge from spending time with Shoo-Shoo, Pat makes an unsuccessful attempt to persuade them that the singer is actually a good influence. Pat and Shoo-Shoo secretly marry, but soon after Shoo-Shoo learns of David and Phillip's decision, she leaves town. An outraged Pat takes his case to court, but Phillip and David refuse to give up custody of Midge without a fight. When Judge Abercrombie asks Midge to decide her fate, the girl says that she loves all three men and believes the only way to resolve the dispute is to put herself in the custody of an orphanage. Abercrombie agrees with Midge's suggestion, but the decision is protested by all three foster fathers, who tell the judge that they are willing to relinquish custody rather than see Midge sent to an orphanage. Realizing that the three men, Florence and Shoo-Shoo all love Midge, Abercrombie decides to return Midge to them and discard the stipulation he made about marriage.
