Hank Medhill, artificial silk manufacturer, has returned to the U.S. from Japan to learn that his former girlfriend, Eleanor Breen is about to marry. Hank convinces Eleanor to leave the groom-to-be and marry him. Shortly after the marriage, they discover that they have nothing in common. They separate. Hank decides to pick any name from the phone book and date them. That date results in a wild and frightful night for Hank, thanks to Eleanor's clever plan.
French silkworm trader Hervé is married to the beautiful Hélène. When an outbreak of disease ravages European silkworms, Hervé must travel to Japan to retrieve healthy eggs. After a long journey, Hervé finally arrives at a village where he can buy them. He becomes infatuated with a young concubine and goes to great lengths to see her again. But, when war breaks out in Japan, the concubine flees, forcing Hervé to return home to his wife.
Thinking it is a worthless trinket, Dorothy trades her husband’s prized Aztec idol to a street peddler in exchange for a beautiful silk shawl. She soon discovers the idol is actually an extremely valuable artifact. Desperate to retrieve it before her husband notices, she learns that it has already been purchased by their neighbor, an artist named Cambridge. Dorothy enters Cambridge’s apartment to recover the idol secretly. Her efforts lead to a series of comedic misunderstandings and frantic situations as she tries to protect her marriage and her husband's property.
In 1910, women working in the silk industry in Bursa, protest against the working conditions. They go on strike.
The Three Mesquiteers are forced to track down a train robbery ring after some of the gang hijack their truck for a getaway and the police conclude they are part of the gang, an identification which is just fine with the gang's nameless chief.
