Irene Bullock (Carole Lombard) is a young heiress from a family of idly rich eccentrics who finds herself at the city dump due to a scavenger hunt. Once there she meets Godfrey (William Powell), a hobo who resides at the dump along with his fellow derelicts. Inspired by her meeting with Godfrey, Bullock brings him home and installs him as the family's new butler. While Godfrey finds himself surrounded by a family of lunatics, he sees them as kind people with a need for some direction. Complications arise for the new butler when the young heiress finds herself falling in love with him and issues from his past come to light.