옛 바그다드. 준수한 젊은 도둑 하나가 칼리파의 딸과 사랑에 빠진다. 그러나 신분의 차이 말고도, 몽골의 침략 등 사랑을 허락하지 않는 수많은 난관이 그들을 기다리는데.... 에너지가 넘치는 배우 페어뱅크스의 모습과, 그림자 애니메이션의 고전으로 잘 알려진 을 연상케 하는 환상적인 분위기의 특수 효과, 거장 라울 월쉬의 독창적인 연출이 맞물려 고전 영화 사상 가장 눈부신 작품 중 한 편을 탄생시켰다.
Leon de Severac is fed up with his daughter Jacqueline, who is constantly seducing men. Hoping to discourage her from her flirtatious behavior, he tells her the story of Zareda, an attractive fortune teller who is having an affair with Ivan de Maupin.
A poor chap, with only fifty cents, hesitates whether to buy a meal with it or visit a fortune teller. He chooses the latter, and gazing into a crystal globe, he is told to follow the horses. He is then shown working around a racing stable, and, of course, rides the heroine's horse to victory. That night they decide to celebrate in a cabaret, where several amusing complications ensue.
The action takes place in a gum factory. By a peculiar accident, a bootlegger attempting to avoid the keen eye of an officer of the law, holds a bottle of liquor so that its contents drop into a vat in which the gum is being prepared. It is when the gum is finished and ready to chew that the riot starts.
