Plot

In a prologue, Douglas Fairbanks appears in a chef's outfit mixing a cake with action, mystery, adventure, romance and comedy, seasoned with pep and ginger. The finished cake is The Knickerbocker Buckaroo. The story begins as buoyant Teddy Drake, expelled from his exclusive Fifth Avenue club for playing practical jokes and leaping over furniture, decides to reform his selfish impulses. Anxious to do "something for somebody," he boards a train bound for the Southwest. After helping an old woman off the train, Teddy takes the wrong train and meets Manuel Lopez, a Mexican bandit, going to visit his sick mother. To hide Lopez from a crooked sheriff, and because Teddy left his shirt in the first train, Teddy exchanges clothes with him. At the border town of Sonora, the sheriff chases Teddy along the roofs until, seeing a girl in jail, Teddy lets himself be arrested. Learning that the girl, Rita Allison, has money hidden that the sheriff wants to steal, Teddy escapes. After Lopez saves him from a lynching, Teddy finds the money, holds off the sheriff's gang until a U.S. Marshal arrives, and then returns to New York with Rita, now his fiancée.—AFI

The film opens with a prologue, showing Douglas Fairbanks as a chef mixing a cake. The ingredients of the cake are Action, Mystery, Romance, and Comedy, seasoned with Pep and Ginger. As the story begins, we see Teddy Drake, a wealthy New Yorker, who is suspended from a high class club becomes of his inconsideration for others. He realizes that he has become a very selfish person, so he decides to strike out on his own to see if he can make something of himself. He buys a railroad ticket for a train heading west. Once aboard, he tries to do what he can for each passenger, resulting in several misadventures. When he carries an elderly woman's bags, he ends up missing his train and has to board another. He agrees to change clothes with a passenger named Lopez, who is trying to go home to visit his sick mother. Lopez is being hunted by a crooked sheriff because Lopez failed to pull off a crime that the sheriff wanted him to commit. Teddy, now dressed as Lopez, is pursued by the sheriff's gang. After a series of stunts, Teddy hides out in a well. From his location, he can see into the window of an adobe jail. There, he spots a girl named Rita Allison who had been jailed by the sheriff. "What are you?" asks Rita in surprise. "I'm a Knickerbocker Buckaroo," replies Teddy. "I've always wanted to meet a girl like you, but I never thought of looking in jail for her." Rita then tells Teddy that the sheriff is also holding Rita's brother Henry captive, as the sheriff tries to learn the location of the family's money. Teddy ends up in the same jail, and decides to help Rita. He escapes by having a horse pull out the bars in his cell. But he is recaptured, and, about to be hanged, he is saved by Lopez. Teddy finds Rita's money hidden in an old mission. But the sheriff and his gang surround the mission. Teddy holds them off until a U. S. Marshal arrives, who takes care of the sheriff and his gang. Teddy mistakenly believes Henry is Rita's sweetheart. When the confusion is cleared up, Teddy takes Rita for his wife.