 The Midwestern mothers of two Leopold and Loeb--like murderers move to Hollywood, California in the 1930s and open a dancing school for would-be Shirley Temples seeking to break into the movies. Adelle (Debbie Reynolds) falls in love with a Texas millionaire (Dennis Weaver), but Helen (Shelley Winters) turns to an evangelist (Agnes Moorehead) and gradually goes off the deep end. Soon corpses of all kinds start piling up.