Cécile, Annette, Yvonne, Émilie and Marie, the Dionne Quintuplets, turn five years old and have a private birthday party in their garden. Other than the five little French-Canadian princesses-of-the-world, the attendees at the party for the sheltered sisters are their doctor-and-mentor Roy Dafoe; a priest and two nurses; radio's "Town Crier" Alexander Woollcott; and RKO-Newsreel cameraman Harry Smith.

As the rather fussy 'Mr. W' is dining in a restaurant, the waiter introduces him to an attractive woman, who sits down at his table. She asks him to take her to the theater, but he declines, indicating that he would prefer to relax at the restaurant. To entertain her, he teaches her a word game called the 'Minute Game'.