- When he runs short of money, a newspaper reporter pawns a police revolver he was given after he helped the police solve a case. Later on the gun is used in a murder, and the reporter is suspected of committing the crime.
- Larry Doyle, a reporter fond of hard-and-much drinking, insults his city editor on one of his drunken sprees. When he later awakens, he finds he is on a train bound for St. Louis, and has one dollar and a revolver in his pocket. He also finds he is involved in some kind of crime plot, and a whirlwind romance with a cutie named Anne Olgivie. He sets out to resolve both issues.—Les Adams <longhorn1939@suddenlink.net>
- Ace Chicago reporter Lawrence Doyle is congratulated by his tough editor, Ellwyn A. Jonas, and envious colleagues Dunn, Weeks and Whalen, for work on the Upshaw murder case. After he takes out his pals with his bonus pay, Larry gets drunk and is fired by Jonas. Waking up on a train to St. Louis, Larry attaches himself to Anne, who is also alone and broke. Although he talks their way into the honeymoon suite of a fancy hotel, their relationship remains strictly platonic. Marvin, the manager of the local paper, rejects Larry's request for a job after he telephones Jonas for references. When Larry wires Jonas for money, he refuses, but Dunn, Weeks and Whalen send their friend fifty dollars. With the money, Larry and Anne go gambling at a nightclub. As they are leaving, Larry sees a robbery and shoot-out and takes the place of the crooks' getaway driver, who is killed. After Anne and Larry hide the robbery money in their hotel room, Larry offers the scoop to Marvin, who hires him. The police then find that the gun used in the crime used to belong to Larry, who had pawned it. Because he is now implicated in the crime, Larry returns to the pawnshop, and knocks out the owner Nate, but is in turn ambushed by the infamous local robber and murderer known as "The Eel." Anne then shoots The Eel, thereby saving Larry and earning the reward money, which will enable them to marry.
- Mr. Larry Doyle, a newspaper reporter for the Chicago Record newspaper, is recognized by the police department for his assistance with solving the Upshaw murder case. He is awarded a "Special 45" gun by policeman T Fulton Whistler, and $50 bonus check from his chief editor, Mr. Ellwyn "Jo-Jo" Jonas.
Leaving Jonas' office, his three coworkers, Whalen, Weeks and Dunn, suggest he sell the gun and split the proceeds four ways. Instead, Larry invites them to take the rest of the day off for some drinks with the bonus money. The three give him a set of brass knuckles and a horse whip as gag gifts to complete his weapon collection.
Jonas finds his four reporters drunk, and overhears Larry insult the chief. Jonas tells the other three to show up to work tomorrow sober, and fires Larry for insubordination. After paying the bar tab, Larry decides to take a trip, wherever he can, with whatever money he has left over.
Larry awakes the next morning on a train arriving to St. Louis. Hung over and confused, Larry doesn't remember the train ride the night before. At the train station, he has breakfast. A young lady, Miss Anne Ogilvie, sitting next to him does not have enough to pay for her donuts and coffee. Without Anne knowing, Larry pays the waiter for both meals.
At the telegraph office, Larry spends his last fifty cents to send a note asking his Jonas for $200 dollar advance. Anne also asks to send a note to her mother, but has no funds, so discards it. Larry digs the crumpled note from the trash, which asks her mother for funds.
Both broke, Larry comes up with a way to get room and board at the Commodore hotel. Pretending to be newlyweds, they book the most expensive room, a honeymoon suite, for $35 dollars per night. The two order a lavish meal for room service.
The hotel staff read the response to Larry's telegraph. Jonas won't send him the money, and doesn't want anything to do with him. Reading this, Mr. Clark, the hotel manager, demands that Larry and Anne settle the bill in the next 24 hours.
Larry reads in the local newspaper that "The Eel" has robbed again. Larry goes to the St. Louis Daily News to offer his services as a news reporter to catch "the Eel". The managing editor, Marvin, calls the Chicago Record to confirm Larry's identity, but Jonas falsely claims that Larry is right there in Chicago, so whoever is in St. Louis must be a fake and a liar. Marvin throws Larry out of the office.
Whalen, Weeks and Dunn hear what Jonas did, and wire $50 dollars to Larry. Mr. Clark accepts this to cover two night's stay.
Larry and Anne decide to sell his new gun for $25 dollars to Nate, a local pawnbroker. After the couple leave, Nate informs a potential buyer that he has a "Special 45" gun that he was looking for.
Larry and Anne go to "Trocadero" casino to gamble in hopes to make more money. On their way out, Larry sees a driver with a shotgun, and decides this might be a good story. He sends Anne back to the Commodore, but she decides to hide behind the corner of the Trocadero to see what Larry is up to.
A policeman also sees the driver, they shoot and kill each other. Larry checks on the policeman, then gets in the car to check the driver. Both dead. Two gunmen run out of the casino. One man shoots the other, then places a bag in the back seat of the car. He instructs Larry to hold on to the bag tonight, and will see him at 5:30 tomorrow.
Larry drives off in the car. He hears on the radio that two men are dead at the casino, and police are on the lookout for the getaway car. Larry parks, and takes the bag from the back seat with him, and walks back to the Commodore hotel, where Anne is now waiting for him.
"The Eel" calls Marvin at the St. Louis newspaper, claiming responsibility for the robbery at the Trocadero casino. He calls himself the Eel because he is slippery, he can't be caught, neither by police nor newspaper reporters.
Larry and Anne go to Marvin, claiming they saw the Eel rob the Trocadero. Larry claims he can pick him out from a police lineup. Marvin agrees to hire him for $100 per week, plus bonus once the Eel is caught.
Marvin calls the district attorney, Mr. Johnson, and tells him to meet his new reporter, Larry Doyle, at the Trocadero. Without admitting to police he had witnessed the crime, Larry proceeds to "guess what might have happened", deducing who shot who, to be confirmed later with bullets found in each body. The police are able to find the gun exactly where Larry guessed the Eel would have been standing.
Larry tells the police that from fingerprints and gun serial number, they should be able to identify the owner of the gun. After the police leave, Anne tells Larry she recognized the gun as the one they just pawned. Back at the hotel, Larry realizes he has a bag of $26,000 cash, and the police have his gun.
The pawnbroker Nate goes to see Johnson at the police department, claiming that the gun used was similar to one a man and woman tried to sell him yesterday. Nate recorded the serial number, but told Johnson he refused to buy it because the man, Larry Doyle, could not prove who he was.
Johnson sends two policemen to pick up Larry Doyle and Anne back to the police station. The detective accuses Larry of withholding "evidence" in order to write a good newspaper story.
Johnson interviews the "coat check" girl from the Trocadero. She identifies Larry and Anne, and confirmed they picked up their coats around 12:20pm, shortly before the shootout.
The two policemen return from the Commodore hotel, having searched Larry's room, and found the brass knuckles and horse whip. They also confirmed that fingerprints in Larry's hotel room match the fingerprints on the steering wheel of the getaway car. The police accuse Larry of being "the Eel", with charges of murder and robbery.
Marvin comes to the police station to retrieve Larry from this, but admits he does not really know if Larry is who he claims. Johnson then calls Jonas at the Chicago Record. This time, Jonas confirms that Larry is indeed Mr. Larry Doyle. Marvin wants exclusive access to the story. Larry admits he withheld the fact that he drove the getaway car, as part of the newspaper story, but did not rob or kill anyone.
Marvin asks Johnson to set Larry free for just 24 hours to help him crack open this case and catch the real Eel. Johnson agrees to let Larry go for this.
Larry and Anne head back to the pawnshop. They notice the street address is "530", and assume that is what the Eel meant. They give the sales slip to Nate, the pawnbroker, asking to buy back the gun sold the day before. He admits he does not have the gun, and can't remember who he sold it to.
Larry punches Nate and the two of them tie him up in a closet in the back of the pawnshop. The Eel walks in. Larry comes out from the back room and greets the man as a new customer. The Eel recognizes it is Larry, and points a gun at him, requesting the bag full of money and jewels.
The Eel takes Larry to the back of the shop where Anne is hiding. The Eel gives Larry to the count of three to identify the location of the bag. Anne shoots the Eel, saving Larry.
Newspaper reports show that the Eel was captured by a heroic news reporter, aided by his courageous wife. Larry realize they now have to be married, having identified Anne as Mrs. Larry Doyle. Anne agrees!
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