Biography of a Bachelor Girl

Richard Kurt, a managing editor at a large magazine, is determined to have Bohemian artist Marion Forsythe's autobiography published, and takes a two thousand dollar advance to her to convince her that he is serious. Richard meets the gregarious artist, who has just arrived from Europe, in her ocean liner cabin. He soon learns that Marion's social schedule is so busy that she cannot remember his name from one moment to the next. As Marion flits around her room juggling the demands of her brother-in-law Feydak, the press and a process server, who has come to collect an outstanding debt, Richard tries to distract the celebrity long enough to put forth his proposal, but only manages to voice his contempt for the ways of flighty Bohemians. In the face of destitution and the repossession of her belongings, Marion agrees to Richard's offer. When Slade, the fiancée of senatorial candidate Leander Nolan, comes across a newspaper article announcing the arrival of Marion, Leander's childhood flame, she relates the news to Leander, but he feigns disinterest. Later, the candidate secretly visits Marion, who, at first sight, does not recognize him, to resolve a quarrel they had in Knoxville, Tennessee, their home town, many years earlier. Uninterested in such trivial matters, Marion offers to paint Leander's portrait, which she feels would be a necessary monument to his vanity and senatorial aspirations. Leander and Richard take an immediate dislike to each other, and Richard disparages Marion's tolerance of the shifty political windbag. Fearing that Marion's book would reveal too much of his past with her, Leander desperately tries to stop the book's publication, even offering Marion money to discontinue her plans, but she insists on finishing her memoirs. Richard, appalled at the candidate's attempt at bribery, hopes that the book will ruin his chances of winning an election, and taunts Leander by pretending to have read the scandalous references to her old flame. Realizing that Marion is offered little privacy in her home, Richard decides to take her to a secluded cabin at Moose Lake, Maine, where she can write in peace. Again, Richard discounts Marion's Bohemian lifestyle, criticizing her superficial and casual manner, but soon finds that he has become enamored with her, despite her flaws. Meanwhile, Leander discovers Marion's whereabouts and seeks her out to make her realize how much unhappiness she has caused him. At the same time, the suspicious, jealous bride-to-be, Slade, follows him there and chaos ensues. In the confusion, the dejected Leander confesses that he is afraid of his fiancée and deeply in love with Marion. Leander proposes marriage to Marion, but she tells him that she has fallen in love with Richard. When Marion threatens to leave Richard forever unless he tells her that he loves her, he admits that he is uncomfortable with expressing his feelings toward her, but then admits that he is indeed in love with her.