Famous singer Fanny Brice has divorced her first husband Nicky Arnstein. During the Great Depression she has trouble finding work as an artist, but meets Billy Rose, a newcomer who writes lyrics and owns a nightclub.

A hardened con being transferred from a federal penitentiary to a Texas institution to finish a life sentence as a habitual criminal is freed at gunpoint by his niece. The police man, who was transferring him and has been the con's adversary for over 30 years, vows to catch the twosome.

Two 12-year-old girls going through a divorce make a pact never to divorce their friendship.

After African-American teenager Spence Scott gets expelled from his private school for arguing with a teacher, he turns to his grandmother for advice. Spence, who lives in a genteel white area and has mostly white friends, feels like an outsider. He visits a bar in a black neighborhood, where he meets a few prostitutes, which doesn't help. Eventually, Spence starts a friendship with the housekeeper, Christine, who tells him her own difficult story.