The Affairs of Annabel

Wonder Pictures publicity man Lanny Morgan has Annabel Allison taken to prison to generate buzz before her film's release. The stunt is designed to grab headlines and shape public perception of the star and the studio, setting the tone for her upcoming public image.

One month after the stunt, Annabel is released but finds that nobody has noticed the publicized event. The failure leads to Lanny being fired from Wonder Pictures due to poor publicity handling.

After firing, Lanny pays a struggling actress to pretend to be his sick mother to salvage his career. Annabel is rehired by the studio, and Lanny immediately starts plotting another publicity stunt to reclaim his importance.

The head of Wonder Pictures informs Annabel that her film has been canceled. He tells her she is to star in a new film, The Maid and the Man, shifting how the studio plans to promote her career.

Lanny arranges for Annabel to work as Mary, a maid for the Fletcher family, consisting of their teenage son Robert and inventor Major. The arrangement shifts Annabel into a domestic setting where her public persona is tested by ordinary life and Robert's growing infatuation.

As Annabel settles into her maid duties, Robert becomes infatuated with her, complicating the household dynamic. She is expected to cook and clean, deepening Lanny's promotional manipulation and the tension between performance and reality.

Investors interested in Major's rubber ring invention appear in the morning newspaper disguised as robbers. In truth, they are waiting for their own publicity to dissipate so they can make a clean getaway, using the sensational story to camouflage their plan.

Back at Wonder Pictures, The Maid and the Man is scrapped, and Lanny calls Annabel to inform her. She reveals that she cannot leave, prompting Lanny to adjust the plan and pursue a bold publicity stunt that involves a fake police operation.

Lanny discovers Annabel's mug shot in the paper along with the robbers and devises a plan to outfit 50 extras as policemen. The staged force is meant to confront the robbers at the Fletcher house, using spectacle to maintain Annabel's image.

The faux police march approaches the house, firing blanks while the robbers answer with real bullets. The extras scatter as chaos erupts; Lanny sneaks inside, but is captured by the robbers.

When real policemen arrive, the robbers attempt to escape by using Lanny and Annabel as shields. Annabel uses her martial arts training to throw one robber to the ground, while Lanny bites the other, ending the standoff.

Annabel returns to Wonder Pictures only to find The Maid and the Man has been replaced by The Diamond Smuggler, in which she is to star. The disappointment marks a setback in her career but keeps the promo machine moving.

On her way out, Annabel collects a gift Lanny arranged for her, but the police open it to reveal precious jewels inside. The reveal triggers an arrest-style ending as the jewel-bearing gift caps the publicity stunt's chaotic arc.

Lanny watches from the front of a billboard advertising The Diamond Smuggler as Annabel is driven away screaming. The ending underscores the bittersweet spiral of publicity and fame that defined their collaboration.