Rufus Billings was born premature and after a lifetime of doctors doting on his frail health he is now a hypochondriac of the first order. Now an adult Rufus has learned his late father has left him $750,000 but he won't inherit the sum for three more years. Rufus is certain he is on death's door and will never last three years so his Doctor arranges for a loan of $100,000 to pay for a live in nurse. Rufus only has to sign over his inheritance to the greedy trio of Clinch, McIntosh and Peck who along with the doctor are confident he'll live long enough to pay his debt.

When a nobleman loses his way in the fog and enters a house where there's a party going on, he's mistaken for a hired butler.

A well-known sextet has been invited to a society gathering, and when one of them turns up missing, their manager asks Dodo to fill in. At the party, she meets four new men. She's smart enough to steer clear of two of them -- corrupt society leader Albert Sasson and powerful newspaper publisher Harrigan Blood. Instead she becomes passionately involved with Judge Massingale. The man who really steals her heart, however, is Garry Lindaberry, who seems to be a hopeless drunk.

On the eve of WW-I the French Navy ship Lafayette returns to its Toulon base for one night. There is no shore leave, although wives are permitted to come to a party. The strain of command on the older captain and his new, young wife is very great.

Ann, a young woman with outrageously advanced ideas, has been living in sin with Dick, her lover, because of her conviction that marriage would destroy their love; but social pressure ends up paying off, so Ann and Dick get married.

In 1856, slave Eliza plans to marry George with the consent of the Shelbys, her masters, but George's owner prevents the wedding. A few years later, Eliza flees with her son, Harry, after learning the Shelbys plan to hand them over to a crooked creditor to prevent foreclosure. George also escapes and goes on the run while Eliza and Harry are captured and brought back home. Mother and son are separated as George tries to find them both.

Raffles is an English gentleman with a secret life—he is the notorious jewel thief known as "The Amateur Cracksman." While sailing from India to England accompanied by his friend, Bunny Manners, it is rumored that the infamous cracksman is aboard ship. Raffles warns a lady passenger to keep an eye on her necklace, which is stolen soon afterward. Although a search reveals no evidence, the necklace is returned upon reaching London.

An ocean liner is found at sea with everyone on board dead. An investigation is begun to find out what happened.

Pop Clark is about to lose his baseball team, unless they can win the pennant so he can pay off debts. He hires ace player Larry Kelly to ensure the victory. As well as rival teams, mobsters are trying to prevent the wins, and as the pennant race nears the end, Pop's star players begin to be killed, on and off the field. Can Larry romance Pop's daughter, win enough games, and still have time to stop a murderer before he strikes more than three times?

Broadway actress leaves New York to become a star in Hollywood, and succeeds despite sleazy directors and her own ego.

Ulysses Crickle owns a small town grocery store, doubling as the post office, dealing with the peculiarities of the townspeople. Jerry Fleming arrives to run a rival business and to romance Crickle's granddaughter Marian.

Union spy Gail Loveless impersonates a black maid in the early days of the Civil War, but complications arise when she falls in love with a Confederate officer.

New York singer and nightclub owner Lady Lou has more men friends than you can imagine, unfortunately one of them is a vicious criminal who's escaped and is on the way to see "his" girl, not realizing she hasn't exactly been faithful in his absence. Help is at hand in the form of young Captain Cummings, a local temperance league leader, though.

Two young Chicago hoodlums, Tom Powers and Matt Doyle, rise up from their poverty-stricken slum life to become petty thieves, bootleggers and cold-blooded killers. But with street notoriety and newfound wealth, the duo feels the heat from the cops and rival gangsters both. Despite his ruthless criminal reputation, Tom tries to remain connected to his family, however, gang warfare and the need for revenge eventually pull him away.