During their 20th anniversary celebration, Fibber McGee Jim Jordan and Molly McGee Marian Jordan throw a large shindig, but everyone declines their invitation to the Silver Tip Lodge at Lake Arcadia. Discouraged, the McGees decide to relive their first honeymoon night at the Ramble Inn. They discover the inn has fallen into ruin, yet they decide to stay the night there, hoping to recapture a spark that time couldn’t erase. The next morning, with finances strained, Fibber insists they still head to Lake Arcadia and spend at least one night at the Silver Tip Lodge.
As Fibber checks into the lodge, Molly runs into her old beau, Otis Cadwalader Gale Gordon. Jealous by nature, Fibber must be cordial to Cadwalader, who coolly delivers the line, > I’ve got bad news for you...I’m fine!
There in the lobby, the McGees reconnect with old friends: the ventriloquist Edgar Bergen Edgar Bergen and his puppet Charlie McCarthy, Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve Harold Peary, and Abigail Uppington Isabel Randolph. Despite their strained finances, Fibber keeps up appearances by renting the bridal suite and pressing ahead with the long-delayed anniversary party right at the lodge.
Behind the scenes, Cadwalader presses Fibber to recruit Bergen to invest in a synthetic gasoline formula developed by Wallace Wimple Bill Thompson. Fibber manages to arrange a meeting with Wimple, sees the formula in action, and agrees to partner with Cadwalader, a decision that will pull the group into a tangle of comic danger.
Meanwhile, Bergen and Charlie are dispatched by an institute to locate a rare silk-spinning moth. Their quest brings them into contact with Jean Gildersleeve Ginny Simms and her troop of girl guides. Bergen succeeds in securing a specimen and hustles back to the lodge to report, leaving Charlie to flirt with the guides.
That night, Fibber has hired bandleader Ray Noble to provide the musical backdrop for the party. Charlie’s continued flirting with the girl guides and Fibber’s conversations with Bergen about Cadwalader’s scheme amplify the evening’s misadventures. Bergen agrees to write a check to Fibber, but only on the condition that Cadwalader does not cash it until Bergen has a chance to investigate. Cadwalader grabs the check the moment Bergen steps away.
As the festivities unfold, Abigail Uppington, dressed as an Indian, begins to recite “The Song of Hiawatha.” Bergen notices a branch in her grasp that’s heavy with silkworm cocoons and, following Mortimer Snerd’s guidance, is directed toward an Indian reservation to find more. Disguised as an Indian squaw, Bergen sneaks into the reservation with Charlie posing as a papoose. The Indians threaten him, but his ventriloquism allows him to project his voice at a totem pole, impressing the chief with the talking totem. After the peril, Bergen and Charlie return to the laboratory with the cocoons, a scene that injects a new twist into the evening.
Back at the Silver Tip Lodge, Fibber fills Molly in on the Cadwalader deal and Bergen’s plan. Wimple then confides that his formula doesn’t actually work, casting suspicion on Cadwalader’s scheme and prompting Molly to press Cadwalader to restore Bergen’s money. Meanwhile, Bergen informs Jean of his disappointment when the cocoons prove brittle, and the tension crescendos as Cadwalader’s improprieties come to light. When Fibber arrives with a sample of the formula and the bad news about Wimple, the situation explodes into a wild chase: Cadwalader’s carriage, Bergen, Jean, and Fibber pursue in a wagon loaded with dynamite, while Molly drives the opposing carriage.
The chase culminates with Molly pulling the carriage off the road, sending the wagon spiraling toward a cliff. In a heartening turn of events, Bergen offers to buy the formula, and Molly reveals she hadn’t run off with Cadwalader at all—she’d driven him out of town to spare them a scandal. The McGees, along with Jean and Bergen, embrace as dynamite noises punctuate the finale, and Charlie can’t help but quip, “Wow! ... Anybody wanna adopt an orphan?”
