The poor, elderly—and the wily, when it comes to parting those who can afford it from their money—Scottish skipper of a broken-down old 'puffer' boat tricks an American tycoon into paying him to transport his personal cargo. When the tycoon learns of the trick, he attempts to track down the boat and remove his possessions.

Lily Macbeth pushes her husband Joe to rub out the reigning crime boss and become the new kingpin himself. Success is short-lived, however, as he confronts Lennie, a mobster whose father and wife were Joe's murder victims.

An American reporter smells a story when he is stranded in an Iron Curtain country where the local dictator is using gamma rays to transform children into mutated henchmen.

A scientist discovers a formula that makes a baseball which is repelled by wood. He promptly sets out to exploit his discovery.