 Sharkey, animal handler for the Maitland Circus, is jealous of the success of star animal tamer Clyde Beatty - murderously so, as he has once surreptitiously permitted a hungry lion to be prematurely freed in a cage with Clyde, who escapes being mauled by the skin of his teeth. Clyde and his buddy, circus PR Man Larry Henderson, determine to take the maiden flight of a trans-Pacific dirigible, stopping off in India to collect tigers and Africa to collect lions, bring them back and have a novelty mixed-feline act; and take Sharkey along, unaware of the extent of his malice...