Harry Peel is a bestselling novelist adored by women. But then, a criminal whom he once turned over to the police and whom he immortalized in his novel attempts to assassinate him. The attempt fails, however, and the gangster is back behind bars. However, Harry soon finds himself with another problem on his hands: he must help a friend with crushing debts by finding him a wealthy bride.

A black envelope presents the hero, detective Harry Peel, who loses his fortune over the course of the story, with tasks. A mysterious criminal, car and motorcycle chases through the wintry Alps, and the blowing up of a bridge provide cinematic spectacle and opportunities for daredevil stunts.

A pampered American oyster tycoon decides to buy a husband for his daughter, but things don’t go quite as planned. Along the way there are mishaps, misunderstandings and a foxtrot sequence that must be seen to be believed.

The film starts with a woman on the run from her millionaire husband giving birth to a daughter in the home of a washerwoman. The woman dies in childbirth, but the baby survives. The washerwoman leaves the baby in a horsedrawn Parisian taxicab (No. 13). The paperwork of the birth is lost in a huge tome. Sixteen years pass. The tome is bought by a poor student. One day his bookshelf collapses, and the tome opens at the page where the paperwork has been hidden. The student realises that the paperwork relates to a millionaire who has spent the last sixteen years looking for his pregnant wife. The student traces the washerwoman, and he tricks her into confessing what she has done with the baby. Meanwhile, the baby has been adopted by the cab driver and his wife, and has grown into Lili Damita.