《咫尺天涯》是雪莉·邓波儿在演绎生涯最高潮演的一部电影，讲述一位失去妻子的男人与小女儿共同经历从富有到贫穷的生活，片中的踢踏舞更是雪莉·邓波儿的拿手好戏。

An innocent bank teller, suspected of embezzlement, is aided by an eccentric, wisecracking waiter.

故事发生在美国路易斯安那州，在这里，贪污腐败的风气盛行，买官卖官早已经不是什么背地里的稀罕事了。为了整顿规章制度，美国上议院的议员罗根贝利（雷蒙德·沃伯恩 Raymond Walburn 饰）奉命来到了此处，这令市长感到非常的恐慌。于是，市长决定将所有的违规行为都甩锅到一位名叫吉姆（Max 'Slapsie Maxie' Rosenbloom 饰）的男子身上。
一次偶然中，吉姆邂逅了从维也纳流亡至此的美丽女孩玛丽莲（菲莉丝·鲁思 Phyllis Ruth 饰），楚楚可怜的玛丽莲很快就令吉姆坠入了情网之中。这个突如其来的女孩打破了市长筹划缜密的计划，与此同时，吉姆发现，玛丽莲心里所爱的男人竟然是罗根贝利。

Broadway partners Vicky Lane and Dan Christy have a tiff over Christy's womanizing. Jealous Vicky takes up with her old flame and former dance partner, Victor Price, and Dan's career takes a nosedive. In hopes of rekindling their romance and getting Vicky back on the boards with him, Dan follows her to a ritzy resort in the Canadian Rockies, where she and Victor are about to open their new act. But things get complicated when Dan wakes after a bender to find that he's hired an outlandish Latin secretary, Rosita Murphy, which makes Vicky think he's just up to his old tricks again.