While visiting the circus with his family, Charlie is recruited by the big top's co-owner to investigate threatening letters that he's received.
Austrian church bell ringer Freyman loves music and wants his two sons (both played by Ameche) to love it too. The first goes to America and the second is born deaf-mute but gains hearing during WWI bombing.
The heiress to a powerful newspaper owner gets a job at the paper under an assumed name and helps break up a blackmail racket.
