Elmer is secretly in love with Elvira, but on the train they meet MGM contract actor Larry Mitchell (Robert Montgomery), who falls for her as well, and he has the connections to make her a star.

Free and Easy, whose working title was On the Set,[2] was Buster Keaton's first starring role in a film shot for sound – he had appeared in MGM's talking The Hollywood Revue of 1929, but did not speak.

[2] As with Spite Marriage, his previous film for MGM, production on Free and Easy was largely out of Keaton's hands.

The film was used as a way to showcase MGM's stars and filmmakers, several of whom make cameos, including Cecil B. DeMille and Lionel Barrymore.

[2] Modern reviews are less enthusiastic, with critic John J. Puccio stating that the film "contains far too much talk and far too few visual gags.