On the run from the police, the gangster Dawson turns to a desperate, underground solution: a facial change carried out by the unscrupulous Dr. H. L. Buler. He is helped by the nurse Mary McCall, who is stunned to recognize her patient when the transformation is complete. When Dawson’s new face finally appears, he is astonished by how different and pretty it is, and his rough-underworld ego is met with a glimmer of newfound confidence. His underling Muggsie Brown lurks nearby, muttering that he now looks as handsome as a movie star.
Dawson’s next moves are ruthless and cold-blooded: he sends Muggsie to eliminate both Dr. H. L. Buler and Mary McCall, hoping to erase any trace of the secret. Then he phones in an anonymous tip to get rid of everyone who knows about his altered appearance. Muggsie carries out the orders, killing Buler and a nurse (not McCall) before he himself is cut down by the police. The shocking news hits the papers, and McCall, terrified, flees across the country to escape the scrutiny and danger that now surround her.
Driven by the sudden lure of fame and the chance to vanish into a new life, Dawson decamps for Hollywood and begins to fashion a second identity for himself. Under the alias Spencer Dutro, he trains in elocution and poses as a genuine gangster-turned-film figure, landing a role opposite the poised star Sheila Barry under the direction of Bill Branch. Barry is not easily impressed by Dutro’s façade or his inflated sense of self, and she makes her skepticism clear as he fumbles through his lines and his bravado.
Meanwhile, in the studio world, press agent Joe Haynes pours himself into showmanship and publicity stunts, even as Police Captain Spellman and studio manager Charles L. Kellar warn him to rein in the chaos. Haynes is approached by Mary McCall, who—sent by her fiancé, Western star Tex Williams—offers a chance at work and a believable connection to the outside world. Her recognition of Dutro from publicity photos in Haynes’ office sets a dangerous chain of events in motion, as Haynes plots to exploit the situation for even more headlines and clout.
Dawson’s plan to ride the wave of stardom continues to unfold as he moves through the studio system, and the tension between his public persona and his private past grows thicker. After Mary McCall warns him of the risk, the tangled web of deception tightens, forcing everyone to confront who is pulling the strings and who is truly in danger. When Dutro’s presence becomes a liability, the film’s energy shifts toward a high-stakes chase that zigzags through studio corridors and into the crowded lot.
The climax arrives during a tense sequence on the film set, where Dutro grabs Sheila Barry and uses the chaos to his advantage. Haynes follows, determined to salvage the situation and protect his own reputation, while Barry’s reactions swing between fear and resolve. In a furious confrontation inside a locked space, Haynes manages to subdue Dutro in a decisive moment of grit and quick thinking. By the story’s end, Barry forgives Haynes for his latest publicity-stoked misadventure, closing the loop on a tale of vanity, deception, and the costs of chasing a glamorous image in a world where the line between truth and image is constantly blurred.
