- Duke Regan is the high-pressure, irresponsible promotions/marketing/press agent at the Ritz Hotel. He gets the taste of the home cooking, done by the mother of Marcia Jaynos, but thinks it was done by her brother, Leopold. Leopold has delusions of being a great chef, and the ability to delude Duke into the same, even to the point of selling him to the Ritz as a famous foreign chef. Sounds like a job for Mama.—Les Adams <longhorn1939@suddenlink.net>
- Leopold Jaynos (Erik Rhodes) believes he is wasting his talent as a chef cooking in a low-end diner. Press agent Duke Regan (William Gargan) is in love with Marcia Jaynos (Patricia Ellis) who works at a music store. She does not return his affection. Refusing to take no for an answer, Duke fast talks himself into an invitation to Marcia's home for dinner on the day of her birthday. Duke rarely spend much time at his office as a director of exploitation. His whereabouts are usually known by Gyp Beagle (Allen Jenkins) the taxi driver. Night club singer Kiki Lorraine (Dorothy Tree) tries to track Duke down at his office and demand Gyp take her to Duke's location. When she arrives, Marcia's mother (Bodil Rosing) invites her to eat with them. Duke is greatly impressed with the delicious meal he believes was cooked by Leopold, Marcia's brother. In reality, although Leopold is convinced he is a great chef, he can't cook at all. it was Marcia's Hungarian mother who cooked the splendid dinner. Duke, however, believes he has made a great discovery and leaves the dinner inspired and motivated. Meanwhile, Dukes boss at the Parkway Hotel, Mr. Hassler (Arthur Hoyt) demands his secretary Isabelle (Mary Treena0 find Duke. Duke brings in a piece of the goose he was eating for Hassler. Hassler, however, reveals that the Parkway Hotel has just hired a chef away from the Ritz. Regan is discharged from his job representing the Parkway for lack of productivity. His last check is provided but is nearly wiped out by meals paid on behalf of Kiki Lorraine. Regan quickly heads to the Ritz. On the street he tells Kiki that he was discharged and he is through being her meal ticket. Duke arrives at the Ritz and seeks the office of the general manager, Mr. Stephen Vincent (Berton Churchill). Regan convinces Vincent that he is on assignment from Washington to escort the greatest chef in the world, Mr. Leopold Jaynos from Budapest, Hungary. Regan demands no press coverage and does not want Vincent to attempt to engage Leopold in his kitchen. Regan spends an hour in a telephone booth trying to borrow money from acquaintances. He is late meeting Marcia in the Parkway Hotel lobby. They arrive at the 711 Club to borrow money from Nick only to witness the club being raided by police and Nick being arrested. When Gyp's cab runs out of gas, Duke sells the cab to a used car dealer for 300 dollars. Marcia has had enough of their disappointing evening and takes a cab home. After Marcia leaves, Gyp Beagle loads up another taxi with Duke's baggage and they head for the Ritz. They check into the Presidential Suite. Regan phones Leopold and tells him his fortune is made and he is to join him at the hotel. Meanwhile, Vincent tries to convince Henri (Paul Porcasi) not to leave his chef position at the Ritz. Henri insists that he changes his location every five years. Leopold arrives at the Ritz. Regan explains his strategy to create a mystique around Leopold to convince Mr. Vincent, the head of the Ritz hotel, to hire Leopold as head chef for an enormous salary. They head off to sleep. The next morning, Duke gets the Cavendish Clothing Company to outfit Leopold and his new secretary Beagle. He creates a buzz by phoning the Ritz pretending to be newspaper men who want to interview the great chef Leopold Jaynos. The board of directors puts pressure on Vincent to replace Henri with a chef of equal reputation or lose his job. Regan stops at Vincent's office to further embellish Leopold's accomplishments. In a bind, Vincent and Regan agree to offer Leopold a signed contract they begin to create. Leopold is eager to sign on as head director of cuisine for 20 weeks. Regan returns with the contract. Vincent reveals they are hosting a large banquet for the annual convention of bankers. When Marcia and her mother learn that Leopold is set to cook dinner for a convention of bankers, they tell Duke that Leopold cannot cook at and that Mama Jaynos was the creator of the dinner that Regan ate at their house. Regan resolves to make Leopold a personality and rely on the assistants to do the cooking for the banquet. Then out of jealousy, Kiki, Duke's former girlfriend, brings Tattle Tale reporter Joe Scurvin (Gordon Westcoff) to the hotel, hoping to break the news that Leopold is a fake and ruin Duke. Scurvin demands 25% of Regan's deal to not print the story. Duke tries to convince Leopold not to cook, but Leopold is confident his family lineage is what makes him a great chef. Duke tries to break Leopold's contract with the Ritz, but Vincent refuses not Duke's claims about Leopold's lack of talent. Beagle also does not believe Leopold cannot cook. However, when Gyp eats one of Leopold's creations, he loves the flavor but becomes so sick with acute digestion that he has to go to bed for two days. The night of the banquet, Regan enters the dining room to mingle with the guests. Imagining a roomful of people with severe indigestion, Duke is surprised to see everyone at the convention enjoying their food but still believes they will all get sick in 20 minutes. Gyp calls Duke out of the banquet to tell him that he locked Scurvin in a closet to keep the secret about Leopold's identity. The newspapers reveal that a search for Scurvin's kidnappers in son. Duke rescues Scurvin who threatens to take his story to Vincent and print it in the paper. When they all go to Vincent's office, Regan and Beagle convince Vincent and Scurvin's editor Connolly (William Davidson) that Scurvin is drunk. When Vincent finally takes Duke to the kitchen, he realizes that Marcia has brought in her mother to cook the meal for the banquet. The delighted Vincent places her under contract and Duke is rewarded with Marcia's affection
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