Reporter Lloyd Nolan is frustrated. Every time he has a hot date with girlfriend Nancy Carroll, his editor orders him out on a story. Nolan grumbles ("I've stood Helen up three times in a row already") but covers the big fire as ordered.
One day, desperate to meet Carroll for lunch, Nolan skips the press conference at the D.A.'s office. Of course he's late for the lunch so Carroll dumps him...and then the D.A. gets shot at the press conference that Nolan is skipping, so he gets fired too.
That's a pretty bad day but by that same evening Nolan is down at the pier snooping around the S.S. Gigantic, accompanied by his sidekick and photographer Harry Langdon, who has managed to bring Carroll along too. They all end up on board the ship when it sails for Southampton--and Nolan is sure that this is his big chance to get back his job (and his girl) by capturing the D.A.'s killer, who may be fleeing the country on the ship.
This whole plot line is wildly improbable but the story does take some interesting twists. Besides the escaping murderer, a couple of crooks are on board carrying a stash of stolen diamonds, and yet another pair of crooks is spying on them. Carroll gets mixed up in the mystery when somebody hands her an envelope full of cash, apparently mistaking her for one of the gang.
The various crooks are actually kind of fun, as are the ship's very British officers, who are not amused by their American passengers' shenanigans. Harry Langdon's comic relief consists mainly of making funny faces.
Both Lloyd Nolan and Nancy Carroll are energetic and look good. However, the roles don't quite work--Carroll's character is smart and generally self-sufficient, so what does she see in overconfident dunce Nolan? And why does she keep letting him boss her around?
Not very believable but it mostly moves fast.
