The Gay Vagabond

Mousy Arthur Dixon is the backbone of the Winston Knitting Mills but is bullied by his overbearing boss, A. J. Wilbur. Art's home life is not much better, for his wife Kate nags him to make more money so that their daughter Betty can marry Franklin Atwater, the richest bachelor in town. One day, Art receives news that his twin brother Jerry, a penniless adventurer, has died in China. Art then leaves for work while Kate visits her friend Agatha Badger. Impressed with Agatha's tales of making a fortune in real estate, Kate mortgages their home and uses their savings to buy an option on five acres of land near the knitting mill. What Kate does not know is that the land belongs to Agatha, who has been trying to unload it for a long time. When Art learns of Kate's actions, he is very upset and leaves the house to take a walk. Meanwhile, Jerry, who is very much alive, checks into the Winston Commodore hotel and, when he cannot reach Art on the phone, proceeds to throw a party in the bar. The revelries are interrupted by the appearance of Wilbur, who is on a discreet date with his secretary Lucille. Believing that Jerry is Art, Wilbur tries to intimidate him into leaving before he sees Lucille, but Jerry tosses out Wilbur instead. When Art does not return home that night, Kate decides that he has deserted the family. When she goes with Agatha to the knitting mill to cover for Art, Kate is surprised to see him, although Art is even more surprised when Wilbur fires him for the antics in the bar. Upon hearing that Art allegedly was romancing blonde Spring Rutherford in the bar, Kate refuses to listen as he explains that, among other things, he was hit by a car while out walking and then wound up on a train leaving town. Kate rushes to the bar with Agatha and Art, and several patrons confirm that a man named Dixon hosted a party the night before. Kate declares that she wants a divorce, and after Art clears his things out of their house, he goes to the mill to clean out his desk. While he is there, however, Wilbur learns from a new client that Kate holds the option on the land that he needs to expand the mill. Wilbur rehires Art and offers him $10,000 for the option, but when Art finds Kate, he discovers that she now believes the land to be worthless and has sold it for $2,000 to a man named Peter Vogel. Soon everyone winds up at the Commodore, where Jerry is being pursued by thugs Ratmar and Lobang, who are trying to prevent him from completing an important business deal. Jerry, who makes himself known to Art, convinces him to impersonate him for twenty-four hours so that he can slip out of the hotel and finish the deal, but havoc ensues as Ratmar and Lobang knock out Jerry and stash him on the fire escape. Soon Jerry's girl friend Sonya arrives, and she, Spring, Betty, Kate, and all the others are upset when Jerry regains consciousness and they cannot tell him apart from Art. Eventually the mess is straightened out when two asylum attendants return the option, because Vogel is an escaped lunatic, and Art gains self-confidence after trouncing Ratmar and Lobang in a fistfight. Art forcefully demands that Wilbur make him general manager and gives him the land option in exchange for a large salary. An admiring Kate then returns his housekey as Art dictates the details of his new contract to Wilbur.