Acting
A young attorney, Larry Condon, is on a retainer by a nightclub-owning gangster, to carry and deliver what he thinks are legal papers but he is innocently carrying around millions of dollars in stolen bonds. He meets Helen Griffith when she is arrested in a raid on a gambling house and befriends her. She talks him into taking her to the nightclub of the man he is working for and, while there and unobserved by anyone by Larry, he sees her going through the files and desk of the owner. Who is this mystery woman he just got released from jail, and what is she up to?
President Franklin Roosevelt appoints a theatrical producer as the new Secretary of Amusement in order to cheer up an American public still suffering through the Depression. The new secretary soon runs afoul of political lobbyists out to destroy his department.
A Depression-downtrodden waif uses her brains instead of her body to rise from tyro con artist to crime boss.
An ex-con uses his street smarts to become a successful photojournalist.
A reformer's daughter wins the lead role in a scandalous Broadway show.
World War I veteran Tom Holmes is marked by the unbearable suffering caused by his battle wounds. Over the years, he comes to experience both the pain of misfortune and a love for other human beings.
Aviator Jim Blaine and his brother Neil are rivals not only as daredevil flyers, but also for the love of parachutist Jill Collins.
Tired of the dangerous life as gambling boss, Ace Corbin 'retires' from the racket and travels cross-country by train to begin a new life with a new name. On the train, he meets Eleanor and they fall in love. Eleanor is afraid to tell Ace she's a soiled dove and Ace doesn't tell Eleanor of his shady past. Old enemies won't let Ace begin his new life, and old commitments's won't free Eleanor of her sordid ties. Ace's old life and Eleanor's deception collide with the typical results. But love conquers all!
An arrogant boxer (Pat O'Brien) discovers his wife (Glenda Farrell) had a hand in his success.
The rebellious daughter of an army general gets involved with a Communist agitator, mainly to annoy her father. He arranges to have her kidnapped and taken to Mexico--hoping that she will forget her "Red" boyfriend--by a young, handsome soldier named Jeff who, while somewhat of a goof-up, the general believes is still better for her.
Bill Gordon (James Dunn), whose lot-in-life is rising, falls in love with Helen Barlow (Boots Mallory), who is raising two cute motherless children who nearly wreck her romance when they can't understand why grown-ups kiss...and other complications.
When an ex-outlaw becomes marshal he must face up to his old gang.
The Daring Young Man is hotshot-reporter Don McLane, played by James Dunn. Always on the prowl for a good story, McLane is persistently outscooped by his rival, sob sister Martha Allen (Mae Clarke). After several reels of double-crossing one another, hero and heroine give in to the inevitable and fall in love. But as Martha waits at the altar in her wedding gown, McLane is off on another crusade, this time getting himself arrested to expose corruption within the prison system.
A young woman is involved with a married man, although she does not know that he is married. He kills his jealous wife and implicates her in the murder. However, a playboy character who had been flirting with the woman earlier turns amateur detective and clears her.
A businesslike syndicate runs all the gambling joints in town; least profitable is honest Mike Lee's. Under pressure to allow cheating, Mike "walks out," leaving tough-minded daughter Lady Lee to earn a living the only way she knows. She soon becomes a success gambling among the rich, but, falling out with the syndicate, she considers the marriage proposal of blueblood Garry Madison. Can such a match work despite snobbery and old associations?
Well respected local good guy, "Feet" Samuels finds himself heavily in debt due to an uncharacteristic gambling binge. Feet decides the only way to settle the bill is by selling his body to an ambitious doctor who agrees to allow him one last month to live life to the fullest, then kill himself.
One woman faces many trials on the road to romance after unwittingly marrying a bigamist, then a carnival barker, and then falling for a young engineer.
A con man and his partner inherit a dead gangster's precocious daughter.
Larry O'Roark is a boxer who's insanely posssesive and jealous of his fiancee, Jo. the sight of her and her employer, Mr. Lambert, at ringside during his big fight distracts Larry and he is knocked out. He then promises never to be jealous again and marries Jo. When she realizes that they're broke she asks Lambert for a job (she had quit on marrying Larry.) One thing leads to another and Larry, enraged with jealousy, end up killing Lambert. He then wanders off in a daze, and Jo takes the rap for the murder. Larry descends from his amnesiac fog just in time to interrupt the announcement of the jury's verdict in Jo's trial. then it's off to the chair for Larry. Or is it?
An underworld character wins a Broadway nightclub in a card game.