Charlie is in boot camp in the "awkward squad." Once in France he gets no letters from home. He finally gets a package containing limburger cheese which requires a gas mask and which he throws over into the German trench. He goes "over the top" and captures thirteen Germans ("I surrounded them"), then volunteers to wander through the German lines disguised as a tree trunk. With the help of a French girl he captures the Kaiser and the Crown Prince and is given a statue and victory parade in New York and then ... fellow soldiers wake him from his dream.

A single father struggling to make his comeback as a screenwriter falls in love with one of his students. Meanwhile his son, studying to become a chef, falls in love with his teacher. Love is great for creativity, but it comes with a price.

On a sailing trip, sweethearts Bobby and Gloria arrive in a very sinister-looking India, where an evil rajah attempts to force Gloria into his harem.

In a drugdstore Al and Roscoe are rivals for Alice. Roscoe slings melons and operates the gas pump. Buster delivers a wedding gown for Alice, begins modeling it, is mistaken for Alice and is kidnapped by Al.

When Mabel catches her husband flirting with their maid, it leads to a sharp dispute. As part of making up, the couple decide to take a walk to the park. Nearby, another married couple have just had a similar domestic squabble, and they too go to the park together. But at the park, both men find it difficult to avoid getting themselves into further trouble.

The opening scene, a dream sequence prior to the vaudeville routines which follow, is what makes this film famous. In it Keaton plays everyone in a theatre simultaneously (through multiple exposures). He is the band leader, all its members, the dancers on the stage and everyone in the audience.

The new school teacher fresh from the city struggles with her unruly bumpkin students, while she awaits the arrival of her fiancé.