To escape arrest, "Broken Nose" Dawson, a New York gangster wanted for murder, hires a plastic surgeon to reshape his face and then flees to Hollywood to start a career as a movie actor. Posing as millionaire playboy Spencer Dutro III, Dawson lands a part as a gangster in a Zenith Studio production, which stars Sheila Barry, the girl friend of Zenith's overzealous publicity director, Joe Haynes. Although Dawson's acting skills are minimal, Joe, who dreams of becoming a producer, decides to shower the "millionaire" with publicity. Soon after meeting with Dawson, however, Joe learns from Mary McCall, the fiancée of Western star Tex Williams and the nurse who aided in Dawson's surgery, the gangster's true identity. Inspired with the ultimate publicity gag, Joe locks Mary in his office closet and convinces Charles L. Keller, Zenith's general manager, to allow him to expose Dawson while he is performing his last scene. After talking Sheila into postponing their wedding in Arizona and working that night on the film, Joe calls Captain Spellman of the Los Angeles police department and prepares to confront Dawson. By this time, however, Mary has been let out of the closet and reunites with Tex, who angrily reports Joe for kidnapping. As the cameras roll on Dawson's big scene with Sheila, Mary loudly indentifies him to the police. Panicked, Dawson takes Sheila at gunpoint and escapes from the set, but is tracked down by Joe, who, after a fierce fight, captures him and rescues a forgiving, grateful Sheila.