Interested in becoming a serious actor, Mr. Pastry (Richard Hearne) seeks out the services of a down-and-out Professor (Buster Keaton) to help him become the dramatic thespian he hopes to be.
An amateur detective races against time to clear the name of his cousin, who is accused of murdering her husband. It is based on the novel Whispering Woman by Gerald Verner.
Visiting in England, an American surgeon Doctor John Marlowe is decoyed to a middle European country, and discovers the operation he is to perform is on the Vosnian dictator. When the latter dies, he is replaced by a look-alike, but Marlowe then becomes the object of a shoot-to-kill, vicious pursuit by the secret police of Vosnia since it is vital to Vosnia that the dictator's death does not become known. Fleeing, he seeks help from an actress, Lisa Robinson, and the two are harried across the countryside.