Given a choice between traveling to South America as an emissary for his father's ammunition company and foregoing his weekly allowance, Billy Drake heeds his father's warnings and buys an ocean liner ticket. Before leaving, however, the movie-struck Billy spots a beautiful woman standing in front of a theater and imagines that she is a film star. To his delight, he finds the woman on board his ship, as well as Count Von Nuttenburg, a political troublemaker, who has stolen a movie camera, thinking that it is a new brand of machine gun. Von Nuttenburg shows the camera to Billy, who concludes that the count is a director and the ship is a set for a movie melodrama. When the boat lands at a port torn by revolution, Billy insists that the guns and soldiers are part of the show. Not until he and the girl are seized by the rebels and threatened with death, does he admit his error. By a clever ruse, he escapes from his captors and with the help of Federal troops, defeats the count and wins the heart of his pretty shipmate.

Billy Drake's father finds difficulty in bringing him down to everyday work. After many efforts by Drake, Sr., to influence his son to take a more serious view of life, he finally decides to 6end Billy to South America as special representative accompanying a munitions shipment. He declares that if Billy doesn't go, his income will. Young Drake loves his ukulele and motion pictures, but he is also fond of his weekly allowance. So Billy agrees to make the trip. Before he starts, however, he sees a girl who is particularly beautiful. She stands in front of a photoplay house. He becomes possessed with the idea that she is a motion picture "queen." When he is aboard ship, he discovers that a fellow passenger is this idol of his heart. Count Von Nuttenburg, bent upon sowing trouble in the South American States, is also on the vessel. A film company about to leave at the same time misses the boat, but Von Nuttenburg steals the company's camera, thinking it a new style of machine gun. The Count wins Billy's confidence and when Drake, Jr., sees the camera he is convinced that everybody aboard is connected with the motion picture outfit. Soon after the vessel reaches a South American port a revolution starts, but Billy is so sure that the whole affair is part of a screen play that even when the government forces capture him and order his execution, he takes it as a fine piece of screen melodrama. At the last moment he is impressed with the reality of the event. By a clever ruse he escapes and rescues the girl, also held a prisoner. Federal troops overcome Von Nuttenburg's objections and Billy's smile overcomes the girls.