Working his way up from being a song and dance man to one of the top movie stars of the silent era, Don Lockwood finds his career in jeopardy with the advent of talkies. Studio bosses insist that his next production features synchronized sound, but it becomes abundantly clear that his egocentric co-star does not have a voice suited for the new medium. Don recruits an aspiring “serious” actress to dub the parts and raises his co-star’s anger even further when he starts to fall for her.