The Actress

In 1913, Wollaston (Quincy, Massachusetts), teenage student Ruth Gordon Jones (Jean Simmons) dreams of a theatrical career after becoming mesmerized by a performance of ''The Pink Lady (musical)'' in a Boston theater. Encouraged to pursue her dream by real-life leading lady Hazel Dawn (Kay Williams) in response to a fan letter she sent her, Ruth schemes to drop out of school and move to New York City, unbeknownst to her father, Clinton Jones (Spencer Tracy), a former Sailor now working at a menial factory job, who wants her to continue her education and become a physical education instructor instead. As a young man, Clinton's bad family situation forced him to drop out of school and run away to sea, so he is dismayed that his daughter rejects the educational opportunities he would have liked for himself. In addition to overcoming her father's objections, Ruth must also deal with her feelings for Fred Whitmarsh (Anthony Perkins), a handsome Harvard University student who falls in love with her and eventually proposes marriage.