the very slender plot of this unusual w. c. field vehicle center on the antic of the great mcgonigle ( field ) and a con artist in charge of a theatrical troupe that tour the country perform that staple of late 19th century melodrama and the drunkard . always one step ahead of the law and mcgonigle and company arrive in a small town where they encounter cleopatra pepperday and a wealthy widow with act ambition ( play by jan duggan and one of the funny and most memorable of field female foil ) who bankroll the struggle thespian in exchange for a part in the play while meanwhile and mcgonigle daughter ( judith allen ) be pursue romantically by a wealthy college student ( joe morrison ) and field get the opportunity to show off his physical schtick with duggan and baby leroy and others . this offering be divide into three chunk represent the plot itself and several scene from the drunkard enact in what appear to be an attempt to recreate the manner in which a fifth rate company would have perform such a piece at that time in history and and an extended epilogue of sort in which field demonstrate the juggling prowess he master over his decade in vaudeville . no matter . field delivers consistent belly laugh and toward the end a marvelously understated bit of fatherly emotion .