Man Alive

When Michael O'Flaherty "Speed" McBride (Pat O'Brien) presents his wife Connie (Ellen Drew) with a bowling trophy on her birthday, her disappointment is relieved by a delivery of roses from Gordon Tolliver (Rudy Vallee), her old beau and college classmate. That night, Gordy comes to dinner and is enthusiastically greeted by Connie and her aunt Sophie. After a night of being ignored by Connie, the jealous Speed accuses her of marrying him on the rebound and storms out of the house. At a bar, Speed, inebriated, trades clothes with a tramp named Willie the Wino (Jack Norton), and the two climb into Speed's car for a ride. After Willie drives the car into the river, the unconscious Speed is rescued by the crew of a showboat, who find a letter on his body addressed to Willie from Ignatius (Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer), the son he abandoned. The crew thinks that Speed is Willie until he awakens and explains his predicament to Kismet (Adolphe Menjou), the boat's busybody. After Kismet shows Speed the announcement of his death in the newspaper, Speed realizes that Willie's body has been mistakenly identified as his and phones Connie, who thinks that she is talking to a ghost. Kismet and Speed then sneak into the McBride house, arriving just as the will is being read. When the lawyer reads that Speed's last wish was for Connie to forget him and build a new life, Kismet advises Speed to pose as a ghost to get rid of Gordy. After maligning Gordy from the "great beyond," Speed replaces his mementos, which Connie had packed away. Convinced that Speed's ghost is trying to communicate with Connie, Aunt Sophie (Minna Gombell), a believer in the supernatural, summons medium Professor Zorada (Fortunio Bonanova) to set up a séance. Becoming terrified when Speed responds to his questions, the fake medium runs out of the house. That night as Connie sleeps, Speed's ghostly image appears and tells her to send Gordy away. When Connie informs Gordy that Speed has counseled her to end their relationship, Gordy brings the doctor (Joseph Crehan) to examine her. After the doctor convinces Connie that she is suffering from hallucinations, Gordy proposes marriage as a cure and she accepts. Witnessing the proposal, Speed rings the doorbell, and Connie fires a gun at him to prove that he is an apparition. As Connie packs for her honeymoon, Kismet and Speed, posing as his Uncle Barney from Ireland, appear at her door to condemn her hasty remarriage. When Connie insists upon going through with the ceremony, Kismet and "Barney" inform her that Speed is suffering from amnesia and can be found on the showboat. While Connie rushes to the boat, Gordy closes up the house. When Speed's real Uncle Barney (Robert Homans) arrives, Gordy offers to drive him to the boat. As Connie boards the boat in search of her husband, Speed pulls off his disguise and dons a robe. Just then, Willie's son Ignatius (Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer) arrives, thinking that Speed is his father. After Kismet shoves Ignatius into a cabin, Barney climbs on board, demanding to see Connie, and Kismet locks him in the engine room. Taking Kismet's advice, Speed plays on Connie's sympathies by feigning amnesia and wanders out of the cabin. After donning Barney's disguise once more, he returns to advise Connie to offer Speed her undying love. Disappearing once more, Speed pulls off his disguise and returns to Connie. They are about to reconcile when the real Barney bursts in. When Speed tries to pass him off as an impostor, Barney becomes offended and Speed explains the situation to him. Overhearing Speed's confession, Connie becomes furious until she realizes that he deceived her because he loves her, and the two reconcile.