The story is built around a popular London nightclub, where Ritchard plays Victor, a dancer who is a leading attraction, teamed with Gilda Gray as Mabel, whose popularity has been fading. Jameson Thomas as Valentine, the club owner, is also Mabel's lover, but complications begin when the arrogant Victor, who also loves Mabel, wants her to come to America with him. She refuses. Victor has a row with Valentine, and Mabel dances solo, with poor results.

The plot thickens when Valentine searches for Shosho (Anna May Wong), the Chinese scullery maid whom he had ordered fired after she had caused a commotion by doing a dance in the kitchen. Tracking her down, he finds her attractive and talented and decides to feature her in the floorshow. Mabel is in the dark about the acquisition at first, but we know she will not take kindly to such exotic competition.

The focusing on Shosho represents a developing fascination with the Far East and the film indulges in the eroticism and mystery associated at the time with the Orient. Wong, slightly built, but with eyes and a face that the camera can love, is riveting. Much is made of her costuming and seductive dancing. Her friend Jim (King Ho-Chang) is on hand to play the musical accompaniment for her routine. Shosho uses her looks and charms to be a sexy manipulator. The entanglements escalate with dire results.

"Piccadilly" is rich in atmosphere, thanks to sumptuous set décor, from the lavish looking club to the strangeness of the Limehouse district, and many of the nuances depicted in the relationships. The accompanying score adds character, and the restored film provides nostalgia for the achievements of silent cinema just at the point when sound interrupted the progression and changed the landscape. In terms of casting, the film is not only a prime opportunity to evaluate Anna May Wong, but an occasion to see how striking Cyril Ritchard was as a young man and to enjoy Laughton's turn as a nasty, complaining diner at the club.