Unscrupulously ambitious, Brutus Jones (Paul Robeson) escapes from jail after killing a guard and, through bluff and bravado, finds himself the emperor of a Caribbean island.

An Englishman (Leslie Howard) who has been studying painting in Paris for four years, is advised by his art teacher that his work is mediocre and second-rate, and that he lacks promise. So he returns to London, England to take up studies to become a medical doctor, but his older age and introspection make it difficult for him to keep up in his scholastic work. In England, he becomes infatuated - and then obsessed by a blonde, lower-class, slatternly and vulgar, Cockney-accented, illiterate tearoom waitress named Mildred Rogers (Bette Davis)

When Lucy discovers that Ethel Merman and Mr. Mooney made up a story to hid the singer's real identity, she can't help but come up with the nerve to as Ethel to perform at her son's boy scout pageant. Ethel accepts and she does the show, along with Lucy and Mr. Mooney.