Train Ride to Hollywood

The movie opens with Bloodstone, a musical group, about to go onstage for a concert at a theater. Their opening act, the Sinceres, perform the song 'Yakety Yak,' revealing the band members' earlier stage name and professional beginnings. The band is interrupted by a venal producer who is impatient for their performance.

While waiting to go on stage, the band members are caught drinking champagne and watching an old movie. Guitarist Charles Love expresses his desire to live and act in movies, emphasizing his Hollywood Golden Age admiration. The producer causes Harry Williams to fall and hit his head, leading to his unconsciousness.

Harry Williams wakes up from his fall in a dream where he and Bloodstone are at a railway station. The dream is directed by the snooty film director Eric Van Johnson, and the band members learn about an open audition at Wonder Studios. They disguise themselves as porters to board a train to Hollywood.

On the train, Williams, disguised as a conductor, encounters famous movie actors and characters such as Humphrey Bogart, Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, W.C. Fields, Dracula, Scarlett O'Hara, and Vito Corleone. They enjoy performances, including songs from 'Rose Marie,' and discuss their roles in Hollywood.

While Williams reports the strange happenings to his bandmates, Charles Love attempts to woo a sheik's wife by impersonating a sheik, singing 'What Do I Have To Do.' McCormick explores for new rhythms, and Draffen and Love navigate humorous and risky situations onboard.

During a gathering in the sheik's car, the lights go out and Jean Harlow and Clark Gable are murdered by strangulation. The sheik offers his private car as a secure place, and everyone spends the night there, high on marijuana. The murderer, Johnny Strabler, reveals himself in a nightmare sequence.

Johnny Strabler, a character from 'The Wild One,' confesses his hatred for Hollywood and begins killing the other movie icons. He strangles Jean Harlow and Clark Gable, with Dracula horrified and Bogart attempting to confront him. Johnny then turns off the lights and escapes, leaving chaos behind.

The surviving travelers hold a double funeral for Harlow and Gable. Bandleader Williams leads a Dixieland procession, performing 'Toot, Toot, Tootsie,' and Bogart gives a eulogy. Benny and George, townsfolk, discuss their backup plan involving a boxing match to raise college funds against a gorilla champion.

Williams volunteers to fight the gorilla champion in a boxing match to save the college. The fight goes badly until his bandmates feed him grits, enabling him to rally and win, thus saving the college. Meanwhile, Love almost gets caught fooling around with the sheik’s wife, but he narrowly escapes.

The band reboards the train and arrives at Los Angeles Union Station, heading to the Wonder Studios auditions. They wait outside while other Hollywood figures go in, and eventually are called into a studio room for an audition, performing 'Sh-Boom' a cappella and earning a spot in the production.

Inside the studio, Bloodstone realizes the shadowy figure they sing for is not the studio head, but Johnny Strabler in disguise. The 'head' turns out to be a trap, revealing the murdered Hollywood icons as wax figures and Johnny’s malicious plan to kill them all, aiming to give Williams an 'immortal' role.

Johnny Strabler captures and begins killing the band members, mocking their desire to 'live the movies.' Williams pleads for his life and wakes up from the dream back in the theater, realizing it was all a surreal nightmare. The band prepares to perform at their concert, with Williams skeptical at first.

Bloodstone takes the stage and performs 'Money (That's What I Want),' delighting the audience and the producer, bringing the film to an upbeat conclusion. The movie ends with a sense of Hollywood fantasy blending with the band's real-world performance.