Judy Garland performs her only on-screen death scene early in the proceedings of Little Nellie Kelly. But despair not! Garland soon reappears as the daughter of the character she was playing in the film's first reels. Now a girl of 20, Garland has fallen in love with Douglas McPhail, much to the dismay of her father George Murphy and grandfather Charles Winninger. However, Murphy and Winninger are too much at odds with each other to give proper attention to Garland. Going into her Miss Fixit act, Garland patches up the differences between pop and grandpop, and gets to keep her beau in the bargain. Based on the play by George M. Cohan, Little Nellie Kelly affords Judy Garland ample opportunity to sing a swing version of "Singin' in the Rain", as well as several newer songs.