Wealthy Bruce MacAllister is goaded by his fiancée, Helen Sumner, into proving that he is a man of action rather than a pampered youth. After telling his estate administrator, Eugene Preston, that he is going east for a meeting, Bruce dons a disguise and infiltrates the San Francisco, CA, underworld. Bruce is mistaken for master criminal "The Chicago Kid" and finds himself leading the gang in a robbery of his own fortune in diamonds. When he discovers Eugene's intention to steal the jewels for himself, the loot changes hands many times. Helen summons the police, the criminals are arrested, and Bruce wins her respect.—AFI
Bruce MacAllister is a pampered son of wealth. His girlfriend, Helen Summer, chides him for his lack of manly worth. "I won't ever marry a mollycoddle like you," she declares. So Bruce sets out to prove her wrong, with the aid of his friend Spike McNabb, a boxer.Meanwhile, Eugene Preston, the crooked trustee of the MacAllister estate, has his eyes on Helen, and is anxious to get Bruce out of the way in order to steal a shipment of diamonds from the MacAllister mines. Bruce tells Helen he is going with her father on a trip to the city. But Bruce sends Spike in his place, and travels incognito to experience life. To keep up the charade, he gives Helen's father a batch of letters to mail to Helen. He then poses as "The Chicago Kid." In tough surroundings, Bruce meets up with a weird gang that includes the "Deacon," "Frisk-o Rose," and Harry Hopwood. Hopwood spends his time attempting to build a noiseless explosive. During a fight, Bruce is knocked unconscious. When he regains his senses, he discovers he is part of a plan to rob his own house. Preston appears on the scene to direct the robbery of the diamonds. At first, he thinks he recognizes Bruce, but is persuaded he is mistaken. When the diamonds are delivered, Bruce slips in a substitute package. But then the real diamonds are stolen from him by a crook who turns out to be the genuine Chicago Kid. During the confusion, Preston insists that everyone remain in the house until the situation is cleared up. The Deacon, who has a mania for secret passageways, cuts holes all over Bruce's home so he can attempt a quick getaway. But others keep falling into them. Helen, from her home, sees the lights on in the MacAllister house and comes to investigate. She first believes Bruce had changed his mind about going to the city with her father, and that the crooks are government agents. The crooks have cleaned the house of valuables. Helen calls the police. Bruce foils the escape of the gang but is himself arrested. After strenuous explanations, he manages to clear himself. Helen is convinced that Bruce has become "a man of action" and agrees to marry him.
