A mad inventor is determined to build a machine of some sort; no one knows what the machine will do.
Unfortunately, his own inspiration has left him behind, and the film follows him around as he goes about stealing other ideas, and reverse-engineering existing inventions. He takes a camera apart to photograph the innards; he chases a Rolls-Royce with a microphone to record the engine's sound, etc. We get to watch as he watches his machine take shape through a series of slapstick-ey missteps.
The film ends as we get to see the machine in action.