Harry Burton's sister and her husband are suddenly called away for a few days on business and telegraph him to come to their home and take care of their two little boys, "Toddie and Budge." He at once complies, and is soon with the children, assuming his duties as "governor." Helen Manton, stopping in the same town, thinks a great deal of Harry Burton, and naturally he of her.
Mabel's husband is a hansom cab driver. After a quarrel Mabel imagines herself neglected, and listens to the honeyed words of a tempter, and finally agrees to elope 'with him. A boy is sent for a cab, and the innocent youth calls the husband. The vehicle drives up and the couple run into it, their identity unnoticed by the driver, and they absorbed in each other, not noting the man on the seat. Hubby glances into the mirror reflecting the interior of the cab, and the fun starts. A comical fight takes place between the two men, and the would-be home breaker is soundly thrashed, and penitent Mabel is taken back to her husband's arms.
Hubby is out of work, and wifey is working as a stenographer, posing as a single woman, in an employment agency. The boss is in love with the pretty typist. He tells her he wants a man right away, and she telephones her husband to come down. He gets the job, which is that of porter. While hubby sweeps the floors and cleans the cuspidors, the boss is holding wifey's hand in the private office. Another suitor, who, also, does not know the stenographer is married, tries to see her and is kicked out by the boss. He tells his troubles to the porter, and then rushes off to tell the boss's wife, for revenge. Hubby listens at the door and is caught by the boss, who tips him to stop spying. The boss's wife, a two-hundred-pounder, arrives just as hubby has gotten up his courage to heat up the boss, and a lively scrimmage ensues.
Brown is troubled with an over-abundance of affection, and his wife and mother-in-law convince him of their displeasure in many ways. Brown has a friend who has never met Brown's folks, and becomes acquainted with Mrs. Brown while she is with her mother. He invites them for an automobile ride and manages to start up the automobile as soon as Mrs. Brown has seated herself, leaving her mother behind. That worthy lady, however, runs after the machine and refuses to get lost. The friend has sent word to Brown to meet him at a restaurant, and Brown has a lot of nice champagne iced and awaits his guests. He is thunderstruck when his wife walks in, soon followed by his mother-in-law, who sit down to enjoy his hospitality.
Mabel, her father and Mr. Tra La La, a suitor, much to her disgust, for her hand, take a trip on the coast steamer, "Harvard." Mr. Short, his rival, follows them. He, with the connivance of the ship's captain, gives Mr. Tra La La a most strenuous and ludicrous trip.
Advantage was taken of the fact that a floral parade was being held at Pasadena, Cal. in which the Keystone car was entered and won second prize, to produce a comedy film around the incident. Fred Mace and Mabel Normand are invited to take part in the parade, and Mack Sennett plans to keep her away and take her place Accordingly Mabel is locked up in her dressing room. But she escapes after considerable difficulty. She rushes to the line of march and makes frantic and amusing efforts to catch the Keystone automobile while the two sleuths attempt to dodge her. Mabel gets into difficulties with the police who are endeavoring to maintain order, and is championed by Ford Sterling, who is among the spectators.
When Mrs. Harrison arrives in Harborsport for her vacation, she announces her plan to marry Gladsome, her daughter, to Vincent Bradshaw, the son of her financial advisor James Bradshaw. To keep Gladsome from socializing with the local fishermen, James drives them from his property, but they organize under her and force their way back. Arrested for rabble-rousing, Gladsome is bailed out of jail by James and later meets "Alphabet" Carter, a vacationing financial wizard, for whom she has an immediate attraction.
When an aviator dies performing in a traveling circus, the circus closes and sideshow con men "Sky-High" Billy Wardell and "Domino" Dominick are arrested for giving out fake watches to wheel of fortune winners. After Domino springs the jail's lock, they jump a freight train and arrive in the next town, where Billy falls in love when Jane Higgenbotham allows them to breakfast on her freshly baked pies.
Because Reggie is prone to drink, father severely scores him, and his patience reaches a climax when he is presented with a bill for damages Reggie has inflicted on a poor, inoffensive restaurant.
After his defeat at the hands of "Spider" Flynn, the welterweight champion of Europe, boxer Jimmie Dolan and his trainer, Thomas Jefferson Jones, leave for a principality near Paris. Having lost all their money on the fight, Jimmie accepts Count Conrad's offer to impersonate Prince Frederick in return for a large sum of money.
Georgie Burns is a conceited, athletic individual, who has turned his home into a gymnasium. His pretty wife is exceedingly vexed but cannot cure him of his love for strenuous sports. A forlorn tramp comes to the floor begging for a meal, and George promptly knocks him down.
A burlesque of a Spanish courtship, in which two rivals for the hand of a beautiful senorita battle with each other.
The sinister mesmerist Svengali hypnotizes two characters, then dies abruptly in a Trilby segment from David Henderson's Aladdin, Jr. burlesque. Lost.
The Leigh Sisters perform a risqué Trilby-inspired dance with an umbrella. Scene from David Henderson's Aladdin, Jr. burlesque. Lost.
Irene and Helen are worshipers at the shrine of Frangiapani, the tenor of the hour. When he sings at a concert, they meet in Irene's room, take the printed program of the concert, and one of them plays the accompaniment of the song he is actually singing. Irene sees an advertisement for a maid and waitress at Madame Frangiapani's home. The wild thought enters her brain that if she applies and gets the position, she will be nearer her adored. She puts the plan into execution, gets the position, and is waiting for the signor to appear. He does appear in a towering rage, at an adverse criticism in a paper which he is holding in his hand. His wife tries to soothe him and treats him like a little, unreasonable, bad-tempered child.
In the college play, Tom and his room-mate, "Bunch," take prominent and successful parts, Tom as the hero and "Bunch" as the heroine, in which he is an excellent female impersonator. The day after the performance, "Bunch" makes an engagement to take a real chorus girl to dinner. Unexpectedly his mother comes to college to visit him and he makes Tom take the girl.
Handle with Care is a 1922 silent comedy of marital complications and mix-ups.
Roma Wycliffe, a high-spirited girl bored with the lavender-and-old-lace atmosphere of her Aunt Henrietta's estate, discovers that her grandmother was a gypsy and decides to become one herself.
Muggsy Mulane, a waif who wears boy's clothing, jumps a freight train to the country after Jimmy "the Eel," the leader of the gang of crooks with whom she works, is arrested. In the village of Cottonville, Muggsy befriends Aunt Sarah, whom she later discovers is Jimmy's mother. When Muggsy learns that the greedy Judge Cotton, who holds the mortgage on Aunt Sarah's property, is planning to foreclose, she threatens to blackmail him, and he relents.
A reporter and a detective team up to solve the murder of a nightclub singer who had been involved in a divorce scandal.