By 1938 the movie industry in Los Angles was so dominated by British talent that the collective group came to be known as the Hollywood Raj (inspired by the British colonization of India). Populated by the likes of Ronald Colman, Herbert Marshall, and C. Aubrey Smith and a younger generation represented by Cary Grant, Errol Flynn and David Niven, Sir Osmond Radford found himself adrift. The 50-year-old theatrical knight and former Great War flying ace had once been a successful matinee idol both in London and on Broadway. But his film career had never taken off, and his sole employment was hosting a weekly radio show called "My Favorite Story". He yearned to play Sherlock Holmes - a role he played for years on stage - in the forthcoming Twentieth Century Fox production and felt it would be the role of a lifetime.

The actor-knight had no idea the real role of a lifetime" would be as a member of the British Secret Service. His former comrade-in-arms now head of the Secret Service, Richard Ives-Curtis, blackmailed him into service for "the Greater Good" to become Britain's eyes and ears in the film colony. With America pledged to remaining neutral in the impending European conflict, Los Angeles became a hotbed for both Nazi sympathizers and German, Japanese, and Italian spies. Ives-Curtis ordered Radford to make regular reports on any suspect espionage activities.

Radford's new career as a spy was complicated by his colorful domestic life. His wife, Hyacinth, was a successful interior decorator whose clientele included moguls and movie stars. His oldest daughter, Flavia, was a flamboyant bi-sexual, who campaigned day and night for the role of Scarlett O'Hara in "Gone with the Wind". His middle child, Alec, was an avowed Nazi sympathizer. His youngest daughter, Julia, became pregnant by a married man, whom she appeared with in a Broadway flop. His brother, Jasper, a total bounder, became a drug dealer and incurred the wrath of mobsters Bugsy Siegel and Mickey Cohen.