Showman Hank Whirling is determined to turn his struggling circus into a success despite the ruthless attempts of his former partner Borman to sabotage the dream. At a press party a lion is let loose, generating accusations of publicity-seeking; when the circus tent is set ablaze, there are suspicions that Borman has planted saboteurs. When the circus train derails, killing one of his star trapeze artists, Whilring scraps the rest of the route, and in a risky gamble, determines to play one big show in Buffalo and then beat his rivals the Bormans to open in New York three weeks ahead of them.