Terry (Dan Dailey) and Molly (Ethel Merman) are vaudeville performers who eventually add their three children to the act to become The Five Donahues. However, their children start to go their own way in time, with Steve (Johnnie Ray) deciding to become a priest. The other grown children, Katy (Mitzi Gaynor) and Tim (Donald O'Connor), join a show starring Victoria Parker (Marilyn Monroe). The Donahue parents become a performing pair again, but the family still faces personal upheaval.