Dr. William Remsen vigorously celebrates
his fifteenth annual high school Relay Team reunion in Central Park
Zoo with his buddies, Al, Luke and Patrolman Lawrence O'Roon.
He awakens in the park in the morning and, while serenading the
birds, notices that a beautiful woman on horseback is also part of
his audience, but she leaves before he finds out her identity.
O'Roon is still so drunk that he cavorts with the seals in their
tank, but unfortunately, is bitten on the buttocks by an ornery
seal.
Bill treats his friend at his office,
and to save him further embarrassment, fills in for O'Roon's police
assignment as bodyguard to socialite Lorelei Dodge-Blodgett.
Mrs. Dodge-Blodgett is the chairperson for the annual Policeman's
Ball, and assigns Bill to follow her niece, Judy Marlowe, and
prevent her from eloping with fortune hunter Chris LeRoy. Bill
is delighted to discover that Judy is the woman from the park, and
while she also recognizes him, she is still bent on marrying LeRoy.
Bill prevents her from eloping that day by handcuffing her to the
café table where she meets LeRoy, but later, she purchases a suite
on a cruise ship, and secretly plans to leave the ship just after it
launches to join Chris on his yacht.
In the meantime, Mrs. Dodge-Blodgett has
a nervous breakdown when she tries to order a dozen double damask
napkins at a department store, and her friend, Mrs. Twombling, a
patient of Bill's, recommends her to him. When she arrives she
is in a dazed state, and believes that O'Roon is the doctor, despite
his protests. Through a series of mishaps, both of them wind
up unconscious.
O'Roon revives to find his police chief
at the office. He tells him he has assigned another officer as
bodyguard for Judy because he is trying to capture LeRoy. His
chief promises him a $1,000 reward and a promotion if he gets LeRoy
that night. O'Roon and Bill capture Judy as she gets off the
cruise ship, and O'Roon heads for LeRoy's yacht, where LeRoy and his
men keep him hostage. Before going to the Policeman's Ball,
Bill takes Judy to a carnival on the pier, where once again, she
tries to elude him. He catches her on the honeymoon ride,
where he confesses his love for her. She also loves him,
although she pretends to be unmoved. Yet, when she finds out
Bill would get a reward for the capture of LeRoy, she loses faith in
him.
At the ball, LeRoy impersonates the
magician and, with Judy as a now-reluctant volunteer, he makes her
"disappear." Bill and O'Roon, who escaped from his captors, discover
the ruse and find Judy, while Mrs. Dodge-Blodgett blows the
whistle on LeRoy. The entire police force is in attendance and
they all go after LeRoy. Bill captures him, but leaves him for
O'Roon to get the credit, then he finally gets an earnest kiss from
Judy, who wholeheartedly reciprocates his love.
Notes
The working title of the film was The Badge of Policeman O'Roon.
Copyright records indicate that the character "LeRoy" had the first
name "Vic," although in the film he is called "Chris."
According to a modern source,
Louis Armstrong's piece, "Trumpet Player's Lament," was cut from
the film prior to release.
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