Originally bound for Harvard, Jeff joins the family detective business to save his mother and sister from eviction. He learns the ropes quickly when a gangster hires him to find out if his bombshell fiancee is two-timing him. Shadowing her every movement - and eyeing her every curve - Jeff lands in real hot water, not to mention a hot shower, when thugs kidnap her lover and try to get him. Now they're both on the run - from the mob, from the police (who might be working with the mob), and from his mother (who might pose the biggest danger of them all)!

Arlo Guthrie's song is converted into a motion picture. Arlo goes to see Alice for Thanksgivng and as a favor takes her trash to the dump. When the dump is closed, he drops it on top of another pile of garbage at the bottom of a ravine. When the local sheriff finds out a major manhunt begins. Arlo manages to survive the courtroom experience but it haunts him when he is to be inducted into the army via the draft. The movie follows the song with Arlo's voice over as both music and narration.