Plot
Nat Duncan (Sydney Chaplin), a fast-talking bouncer at the rowdy Ring Café—a place where fists speak louder than words—gets a surprise visit from his old buddy and fellow former panhandler, Handsome Harry West (Duke Martin). Now decked out in fine clothes and clinging to the arm of a wealthy older woman, Harry boasts of having "married rich" and offers Nat the same golden opportunity.
Harry’s pitch is simple: use charm to marry money, then split the proceeds 50-50. Though skeptical, Nat agrees and is soon outfitted with new clothes, a wad of cash, a one-way train ticket to sleepy Radville, and a pocket guide to wooing heiresses. Step one? Join a church.
Nat arrives in Radville and reinvents himself as a soft-spoken, deep-pocketed pillar of virtue. Generous church donations and perfect Sunday manners make him the talk of the town. His exaggerated decency has the local women lining up to land him—including the lovely but none-too-bright Josie Lockwood (Helene Costello), daughter of stern banker Blinky Lockwood (Erville Alderson), who quickly decides Nat would make a fine son-in-law.
But Nat’s heart is swayed in a different direction when he meets Betty Graham (Clara Horton), daughter of the kindly village druggist, Sam Graham (Thomas Jefferson). Sam has mortgaged his future on a homemade invention that promises to convert crude oil into gasoline—but business has suffered, and the drugstore is on the brink of collapse. Nat steps in, becoming a half-owner and injecting new life into the shop with city-style promotions and stock ordered on credit. Profits climb, and Betty is sent off to finishing school with renewed hope for the future.
Months pass. At the height of Radville’s annual garden party and church bazaar, the newly respected Nat Duncan is the guest of honor. But the peace is short-lived—Handsome Harry shows up, now broke after discovering his wife’s supposed fortune was little more than a shoebox of IOUs. Spotting Josie’s continued interest in Nat, Harry demands his share of their original agreement. Nat, however, has had a change of heart—he wants to marry for love, not profit—and tries to sever ties with Harry.
Enraged, Harry turns to sabotage. He informs banker Lockwood that Nat loves Josie but is too shy to propose. Delighted, Blinky publicly announces the engagement—without Nat’s consent. Josie is overjoyed. Betty, now returned from school, is heartbroken. And Nat is trapped.
To escape this matrimonial ambush, Nat cooks up a plan. He sets up a dressmaker's dummy on his parlor couch, arranges himself beside it in a suggestive pose, and pantomimes a petting party, whispering sweet nothings and hugging the lifeless figure with theatrical passion. The ruse works perfectly: Blinky Lockwood barges in, sees the scene, and—outraged by Nat’s apparent betrayal of Josie—breaks off the engagement.
With the coast clear, Nat turns to the girl who’s truly captured his heart: Betty. He proposes, this time with sincerity and no dummy in sight. She says yes. Nat throws away his rulebook on gold digging and picks up a different kind of guide—“How to Love Your Wife”—determined to become not just a clever schemer, but a devoted husband.
