Master showman Harold Hill is in town, and he's got "seventy-six trombones" in tow. The story follows fast-talking traveling salesman Harold Hill as he cons the people of River City, Iowa into buying instruments and uniforms for a boys' band he vows to organize. The catch? He doesn't know a trombone from a treble clef. His plans to skip town with the cash are foiled when he falls for Marian, whose belief in Harold's power just might help him succeed in the end in spite of himself.