Red Jones, played by Red Skelton, is a humble street cleaner whose life takes a series of humorous and dramatic turns. His romantic interest, Ann Elliot, portrayed by Janet Blair, is a secretary working at the Fuller Brush company. When Red decides to propose marriage, Ann advises him that he needs to achieve more in life before she can accept. She suggests that he tries to succeed as a salesperson, similar to her friend Keenan Wallick, played by Don McGuire, who works at the same company.
Red’s journey to prove himself begins when he is unexpectedly fired after a comical mishap involving a trash can set on fire and smashing his boss Gordon Trist's car window. Despite this setback, Ann gives him a chance to demonstrate his skills by selling products door-to-door. Red teams up with Keenan, unaware that Keenan secretly harbors romantic feelings for Ann and is eager to eliminate Red as a rival so he can pursue her himself. Keenan assigns Red a tough list of households to visit, but Red’s early attempts at sales are disastrous. During his route, he faces embarrassing encounters, including a run-in with a mischievous boy and a situation where a beautiful model tries to seduce him.
Seeing Red’s poor sales performance, Keenan bets him that he cannot sell a single brush to the homes they visit—an incentive meant to motivate Red or sabotage him. Red eagerly accepts the challenge. Their next stop is the estate of his former boss, Gordon Trist. Red secretly hides from Trist and the groundskeeper to avoid embarrassment but is recognized by Gordon. Gordon dismisses him, but Gordon’s wife unexpectedly buys ten brushes from Red, giving him a small victory.
As Red celebrates, he quickly realizes he forgot to collect the payment from Mrs. Trist, leading him to return to the Trist residence. There, he overhears a suspicious conversation involving Gordon Trist, Gregory Cruckston, played by Donald Curtis, and others discussing a racketeering scheme. Red’s eavesdropping results in him being knocked unconscious when he clumsily stumbles into the house. Upon awakening, he finds that Gordon has been mysteriously murdered. Alarmed, Red and others are arrested by police lieutenant Quint, played by Arthur Space, as suspects in the murder.
Red is soon released when evidence doesn’t link him to the crime. When he returns home, he finds Mrs. Trist waiting with the money owed from her purchase. His troubles deepen when Sara arrives with Freddie Trist, Gordon’s son, and two armed gangsters. These gangsters take everyone hostage while they search for evidence, suspecting that the murder weapon is somehow hidden within a Fuller Brush product, possibly forged into a knife.
The plot thickens as Cruckston, revealed to be Gordon Trist's criminal partner, is exposed as the murderer. Ann and Red manage to escape Cruckston and his henchmen, and Cruckston is eventually arrested. Red’s heroic actions lead him to win Ann’s affection, and the emotional climax features a chaotic chase through a war surplus warehouse. During this wild pursuit, Red inadvertently cuts into radios throughout the city, broadcasting strange messages, while a stockpile of fireworks ignites, causing chaos and drawing the police.
Throughout the chase, Keenan reveals himself to be a coward, abandoning Red, while Ann chooses to stand by him. In the end, Red emerges as the hero of the day, having unraveled the murder and thwarted the villains, securing both justice and his place in Ann’s heart. This comedy-action adventure culminates in a high-energy sequence filled with slapstick humor, surprise twists, and a satisfying resolution where love conquers all amidst the chaos and confusion of crime-fighting.
