- A man fleeing pursuers crashes into Tony Blake's stage, sending both of them to the hospital. The man wakes up amnesiac and Blake enlists his friends to help the man recover his memory.
- While Tony is setting up his act for an earthquake relief benefit, a man literally comes crashing into the act, sending both Tony and the man to the hospital with minor injuries. The man, who was being chased by two other men who fled the scene, suffered a head injury which has resulted in amnesia, he not having any identification or remembrance of his name. Tony eventually learns that he is George Blaisdell, an ex-con who was in prison for a 1942 robbery in Hawaii, and just released after thirty years of his life sentence for good behavior. Tony recognizes two of the three others convicted for the robbery as the men chasing him, the three who received much lighter sentences for what was the relatively minor total take of $24,000. The two Tony recognizes are Jonathan Gordon, president of sales of New York-based Empire Records, and Stan Lubie, a Hawaii-based wholesale butcher. Of the three other robbers, the man Tony didn't see is Timothy Dunagan, designer of the Dunagan spark plug and an auto racing aficionado. If Dunagan knows anything, he isn't telling Tony. They may have to wait for Blaisdell to regain his memory to figure out what Gordon and Lubie want with him after all these years, that is if Gordon and Lubie don't get to him first.—Huggo
- Tony is setting up for a performance for a gala earthquake desperation bazaar, in front of a church. The priest, Father Fred, asks Tony how it's going and Tony assures him that is everything is fine. Tony invites Fred to watch, and then begins a rehearsal to test the illusion. He shoots an assistant into a seemingly empty drum.
At a nearby bus depot, George Blaisdell is buying a one-way ticket when two men hail him by name. They say that they just want to talk, and George runs, leaving his wallet in the ticket seller's hand. The ticket seller pockets the money inside. Meanwhile, George runs onto a bus and hides between the seats. His two pursuers come aboard and search, but don't see him. George runs out and down the street, and through the bazaar. He runs up on Tony's stage and then trips on a wire, knocking the set dressing down on himself and Tony. As people come over to dig them out, his two pursuers are unable to move in without attracting attention and slip away.
Later, Tony and George are laying in a hospital room together. An unconscious George starts talking in his sleep, apparently saying nonsense. Tony goes over and listens as George talks about heavy paper and betting odds, "Solid Jackson", and twelve hundred on the line. Tony goes out and tells an apparent nurse that George is uncomfortable because he doesn't have a pillow. The woman says that they thought George had a concussion but doesn't, and he'll get a pillow, and Tony asks where his doctor, Nora Zabriskie, is, and the woman says that she is Nora and she was going to tell Tony he could leave anytime.
At the Ontario Racetrack, one of the two men, Jonathan Gordon, meets with driver Timothy Dunagan and says that they didn't get George. He says that the other thug, Stan Luble, is still in town keeping watch. Furious, Timothy tells Gordon to get Luble and get into the race car with him. Gordon does so, and Dunagan drives down the track at top speed. He tells Gordon to get George out of the hospital and his world is falling apart, and he wants George out of the hospital.
Tony goes back to the hospital room and George asks him where he is. George doesn't remember anything, including his name, and says that there was only one wallet between their two suits. He looks at a bus ticket he found in his pocket and shows it Tony, and Tony notes the address on it. Tony points out that George talked in his sleep and said the name "Solid Jackson", and George reme3mbewrs that it used to be a figure of speech. Tony prepares to leave, explaining that they released him, and George says that Tony is the only person he knows. When he refers to "Sam Hill" as a figure of speech, Tony suggests that's as good a name as any for him to use.
Tony and Jerry go to the bus station and talks to the seller, who doesn't remember anything about George except that he was going to buy a bus ticket and then saw something and ran. He gives Tony the wallet, and Tony realizes that it's the kind of wallet made in prison. Tony slips the seller a phony bill, and then transforms it into a real $20 to pay him for his information.
Later, Tony has Max check. The columnist confirms that half a dozen prisoners were released, and one of them fits George's description. George had served 30 years for robbing a military payroll in Honolulu, and the warden says he's been a model prisoner for years so they let him go early. There were three other men involved with the robbery, and three of them were Dunagan, Gordon, and Luble. Tony recognizes Gordon from the church, and Max identifies the three men as successful businessman. Dunagan designed a spark plug and is headquartered at Ontario Raceway. Max confirms that George was on the loose for a while after the others were caught, but they only took $24,000.
That night, Tony drives to the raceway and talks to Dunagan. He claims that he has seen Gordon and Ruble in years, and Tony asks if there was anything else involved in the robbery beside money. Dunagan doesn't remember Gordon and Luble having a grudge against George, and says that he doesn't know why they would be involved with George. He apologizes for not being more help, and then asks Tony to have George visit him when he regains his memory so that he can help him. Once Tony leaves, Dunagan calls Luble and tells him that George has amnesia, and to just bring him there so they can "make him" remember.
At the hospital, Nora meets with Gordon and Luble, who claim to have information on George. They draw guns on her.
George is in his from drawing a sketch from his vague memories, including a saint holding a cross and the word "St. Ba". The two men bring Nora in and address George by name. They say that their old buddies and he's going to help them find $1.6 million. Gordon tells Nora to call the morgue and tells them that George died and she wants his bed cleaned. She does so and Gordon tells George that he's going to sleep.
Tony arrives at the hospital and asks for Nora. Gordon and Luble have gagged and tied up Nora and put her on George's bed, and knock out the morgue attendant when he comes in with a gurney. They then load George on the gurney, chloroforming him.
Going to the room, Tony enters and turns off the lights when he sees Gordon and Luble struggling with George. There's a struggle, and then Gordon and Luble leave with the gurney, a covered figure on it that they assume is George. When they get in the elevator and close the doors, they discover that Tony swapped the morgue attendant for George. They open fire on the security guard that a nurse called, and the two thugs make good this escape.
The next day at Max's house as Tony and Jerry look on, George is astonished when Max tells him that he pulled a robbery in t942. The columnist tries some word associations and George starts repeating the same words he muttered in his sleep at the hospital, mentioning ordering two sort-boiled eggs. When Max says "waitress", George says the name "Betty Foster". He can't remember who she is, but says that he wants to see her. Tony shows him photo of Dunagan but George doesn't remember him. Tony and Max talk privately, and George tells Jerry that he doesn't want the men at the hospital to hurt his new friends. He asks Jerry to have Tony and Max come back in, and when they go back in they discover that George has fled out the window, leaving his sketch pad behind. He left a note behind thanking them for his friendship but saying that he doesn't want to endanger them.
George goes to a phone booth, gets Dunagan's phone number from Information, and then takes a taxi to the Ontario Raceway. Dunagan greets him as an old friend and brings in Gordon and Luble. They have him get into Dunagan's race car, and Dunagan tells George that he won't need a seat belt or a helmet. He speeds around the track and tells him that they had to move fast in 1942 and Dunagan was driving. Dunagan speeds up and sings, and says that they were all in uniform with handkerchiefs over their faces as masks. George remembers and sings along, and then Dunagan says that the police chased them and they had to take chances. Dunagan skids to a halt and figures that George remembers when the $1.6 million is. George says that he doesn't, get out, and runs.
Dunagan drives after George, who climbs up the fence around the track and crawls up into the stadium. He runs outside and steals a car, unaware that it has a tracer in it. Luble and Gordon have a tracker and are in the stadium, and Dunagan yells to them that he's sure George remember and confirms that George took the rigged car. They figure George will lead them to the money.
Tony shows Nora the sketch pad, and the doctor suggests that "St. Ba" means Santa Barbara. There's also a sketch of two worms dancing on an apple, and Nora says that there was an old dance called The Big Apple. Before she goes back to work, Nora apologizes for being abrasive and says that she's not the way she is. Tony assures her that she understands and invites her to dinner.
When Tony gets back on his track, Jerry takes off for Santa Barbara, and then he and Tony locate a Big Apple Diner. Betty Foster isn't listed in the phone book, and Max checks with his "money expert" and learns that there was a theft of "aloha money" - U.S. currency with the word "American" overprinted on it. It was issued in the islands during World War II so it wouldn't fall into Japanese hands if there was an invasion. There were 1200 20s, and each one is a collector's item. The bills together amount to a current value of $1.6 million, and the three crooks' businesses are in financial trouble.
The jet touches down in Santa Barbara and Tony drives to the diner. George is there and asking the owner Godfrey Matchek about Betty, who hasn't heard of her in the last 12 years. Tony sits down with George and figures that he started remembering where Betty worked. George asks Matchek if he remembers the previous owner, Alex Nicholson. Tony looks up Nicholson's address in the phone book. As soon as he and George leave, Matchek calls Betty and says that a couple of guys were looking for her. Gordon and Luble arrive and silently threaten Matchek, and he tells Betty that he didn't say anything about her whereabouts. Once Matchek hangs up, the thugs demand to know where Betty is.
Tony and George track Nicholson down to a park where he's playing with his grandson. They figure Nicholson is lying when he claims that he doesn't remember Betty, and Tony does some magic for the grandson. Tony gets Nicholson involved and talks about how some secrets should be told because they're needed.
Nicholson gave the two men Betty's address, and they drive to her expensive home. Betty answers the door and recognizes George immediately. Gordon and Luble shove her aside and tells the two men to come in. When they do so, they find Dunagan waiting. George asks Betty where the trophy he sent her is, that they won in a dance contest. Betty has it in a trunk, and Dunagan immediately shoots the latch off and opens it. There's no money in the trunk, and Dunagan realizes that the money is in the trophy. George removes it for him.
As Dunagan hugs George in relief, Tony grabs the money and jumps out the patio window. He takes cover behind the Corvette as the crooks shoots at him, then takes cover behind a decorative fountain and throws the money into the wind. It scatters and the crooks run after it. George and Betty drive off in Betty's car, and Tony gets in as it goes past. The crooks discover that Tony substituted fake stage money for the aloha bills, and realize that it's no good.
Later, Tony is performing at the benefit. Afterward, Betty gives Fred the government award for the aloha money. The Asian Fred says that the aloha money has finally come into Japanese hands and walks off, and George and Betty have some popcorn.
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