Maggie, a headlining comedienne with the Follies, takes a fall off the stage into the orchestra pit and lands on the drum of musician Al Cassidy. One thing leads to another, they fall in love and get married. Al becomes a famous songwriter and Maggie stays home and has children. One day Al is hired to write a big number for Selma Larson, one of the Follies' most beautiful stars, and falls for her.

Raised by Natalie Brennan, a flamboyant and irresponsible mother, Ziggy Brennan gets involved in hustling men at a young age. She hangs around with a wild crowd and learns gets her "street smarts" first from her mother, who wants everyone to think they are sisters, and then from Denny Reagan, an older man. He starts teaching her his tricks of the trade and she falls right in line with his crooked ways. Then one night she meets Martin J. 'Mart' Neilson, a tall, handsome, honest farmer boy who's a sailor and they fall in love. While he's away fighting the war, she discovers she's pregnant.

A woman is abandoned by her lover and prostitution is the only way she has to survive.

A young flapper tricks her childhood sweetheart into marrying her. He really loves another woman, but didn't marry her for fear the marriage would end in divorce, like his parents'. Complications ensue.

Karen wakes up in an unfamiliar bed, with a hangover that's even worse than usual. She knows that by getting drunk again she has once more broken her promise to her boyfriend Jeff. Then she realizes that her hand is bandaged and badly injured, and she struggles to remember what happened the night before. She had gone to a party with Jeff, but she felt uncomfortable and lonely, and had started to drink. She tries to piece together the rest of the night, but all she can remember is being angry and drunk.