Rafael Sabatini's story of the swashbuckling era and of Bardeleys, the handsome courtier who could win any woman he set his mind to...and was not above boasting about it to all who would listen.
Virginia Dean enjoys a yachting trip with her father. She falls in love with the captain of the boat, John Reynolds. A gang of criminals has stowed away on board and they take over the yacht and set her father and the crew adrift in a small boat. However, they keep John and Virginia on board. When the yacht catches fire, they all abandon ship and take refuge on a nearby tropical island. Blackie Slade, the leader of the villains, rouses the natives to attack the others
ANYTHING ONCE! is a Cinderella story. Mabel works in a tailor shop, pressing clothes and dreaming of a better life. We're told that she's taken a lot of bumps in life and doesn't know where the next bump is coming from, which sounds uncomfortably close to the leading lady's real-life situation. Her boss is Jimmy Finlayson, but instead of playing the expected sourpuss Finn is quite benign here, and doesn't even punish Mabel when she accidentally sets his toupee on fire.