
Jane Ray, a very clever reporter of crimes of passion, or "sob sister," for a New York tabloid, begins to feel depressed by the sordidness of her latest assignment, the investigation of a young woman's murder by her husband. Despite her growing distaste for her profession, Jane gets her story and, with typical ingenuity, frustrates her competitors' attempts to follow her lead.

Kay Parrish, a society girl, finds she is penniless when her father dies. However she persuades Terry Gallagher to give her a hostess job at his New York City clip-joint, which he operates on the theory that if the suckers want it he'll give it to them, albeit he does apply some principles regarding the matter. A Broadway playboy, Greg Emerson, falls in love with Kay and proposes but his high-society parents object strongly. Terry. although he also has fallen in love with Kay and doesn't realize she feels the same about him, sets out to provide a happy ending for the couple.

A convicted murderer has been sentenced to death in the electric chair. He decides to spill the name of the man who hired him, but just before he does he's killed by a poison dart. A police detective and a pretty young newspaper reporter team up to find out the identity of the man behind the killings.


Sheltered beauty Magnolia Hawkes takes over as the leading lady on a Mississippi riverboat show when mixed-race Julie and her white husband are forced out of town by a prejudiced sheriff. Charismatic opportunist Gaylord Ravenal wins Magnolia's heart, but his gambling losses threaten to ruin their chances for a happy marriage.


When the chemical company owned by eccentric Professor Higginbottom files for bankruptcy, the formerly-affluent family loses its income. Levelheaded oldest daughter Lambie struggles to make ends meet but has trouble persuading her carefree, profligate siblings to cut down on their spending. Youngest brother Dick enters a motorcycle race to win $500, but crashes his bike on the speedway and is paralyzed. Shocked into reality by the tragedy, Lambie's younger sister Babs persuades ex-prizefighter Gunboat Bimms to enter the ring one last time in hopes of winning a purse that will pay for Dick's surgery.

An ex-gang member tries to resist his old cohorts' criminal influence after he suddenly becomes a Hollywood movie star.

Searching for headlines at any cost, an unscrupulous newspaper owner forces his editor to print a serial based on a past murder, tormenting a woman involved.

Baroness Teri von Horhenfels deals with the tedium of her aristocratic Vienna life with a long line of lovers. Her rich husband, Franz, seems oblivious. As she's just about to end her latest affair, the baroness gets a much-needed dose of adrenaline when she becomes the target of a charismatic thief. After staging a daring robbery, he makes off with not only the baroness's ring but also her heart.

To avoid the rigors of the law, Gilda flees New Orleans and hides on a Caribbean island where the worst criminals can ask for asylum. Besieged by the scum of the earth, Gilda will soon find out that she has found refuge in hell.

When a movie actor is shot and killed during production, the true feelings about the actor begin to surface. As the studio heads worry about negative publicity, one of the writers tags along as the killing is investigated and clues begin to surface.

Florence Denny is Tommy Nelson's girlfriend and secretary at a clothing manufacturer during the Great Depression. In order to boost sales they have been using professional female entertainers to keep their clients very happy, but the clients are getting bored of them. Tommy convinces management to replace the professionals with "volunteers" from the pool of stenographers. Inevitably some clients expectations are greater than their "dates", boyfriends become unhappy, and the "voluntary" duty becomes less so over time. At first, Tommy prevents Florence from being a volunteer, but eventually the prospect of a bonus becomes too great and he encourages her to volunteer. Afterwards, Tommy considers Florence a loose woman.

A poor New York plumber's wife and children hope to move "uptown" from their lower East Side neighborhood after he sells his new invention.

A New York gossip columnist feuds with a singer and enjoys the power of the press.