The owner of a department store is threatened with divorce by his wife, who has gotten reports that he's been seen in the arms of a beautiful blonde on the night of their 20th wedding anniversary. He has to find a way to convince her that the "beautiful blonde" in question was actually a store mannequin that he was taking in for repairs.

Set in the early 1900s in the fictional Catfish Row section of Charleston, South Carolina, which serves as home to a black fishing community, the story focuses on the titular characters, crippled beggar Porgy, who travels about in a goat-drawn cart, and the drug-addicted Bess, who lives with stevedore Crown, the local bully.

The girls go camping in the woods per Patsy’s idea, where Thelma can get much needed rest under the great outdoors…and Patsy will do her best to ensure Thelma gets her beauty rest.