In the Salinas Valley in and around World War I, Cal Trask feels he must compete against overwhelming odds with his brother for the love of their father. Cal is frustrated at every turn, from his reaction to the war, how to get ahead in business and in life, and how to relate to his estranged mother.

Travelers heading west in a wagon train, under repeated assault by Indians, discover someone in their group is supplying rifles to their attackers.

In an Iron Curtain country an idealistic student goes on the run from the Communist authorities.

As a wealthy retired surgeon nears the end of his life, he begins to distribute his wealth to those in need, stating that "all that I have belongs to God." His nephews bring him to court to determine his mental competence in the hopes of stopping him from disposing of all his money.

A series of reversals bring two desperate people together. When a saloon owner is framed by his partner for a stagecoach robbery, he fights to secure an acquittal.

Slip and Sach take the rap for a robbery they did not commit in order to uncover the real robbers, whom they suspect are led by a convict who gives orders to his gang outside via a short-wave radio stashed somewhere in the prison.

Wealthy writer Stephen Byrne tries to seduce the family maid, but when she resists, he kills her. Long jealous of his brother John, Stephen does his best to pin the blame for the murder on his sibling. Also affected by Stephen's arrogant dementia is his long-suffering wife Marjorie.

Maggi continues her forever-ever efforts to crash Manhattan's top society, while Jiggs still mingles with his old construction cronies at the bar of Dinty Moore on 10th Avenue.

Shy, destitute Peter Porter meets equally impoverished Nancy Crane at a Florida beach. Inspired by Peter's belief that a person can acquire wealth simply by creating an aura of success, the outgoing Nancy convinces Peter to join her in impersonating a confident and eccentric wealthy couple. The experiment works, and the couple secure a stunning wardrobe and a lavish room at a resort. Peter panics, however, when he gets a fantastic job offer.

A holiday favourite for generations... George Bailey has spent his entire life giving to the people of Bedford Falls. All that prevents rich skinflint Mr. Potter from taking over the entire town is George's modest building and loan company. But on Christmas Eve the business's $8,000 is lost and George's troubles begin.

Abigail Chandler has written her stuffy Boston relatives that she's a successful opera singer in New York. In reality, she works at a burlesque house and is billed as High-C Susie. When her sister Martha comes for a visit, Abigail tries to hide the truth from her.

A number of swamp land men have died by strangulation and the inhabitants believe that an innocent man they hanged is seeking revenge on all of the male descendants of those responsible for his death. Maria, granddaughter of the innocent ferryman, decides to operate the ferry service. Chris Sanders, a son of one of the men who did the hanging, and Maria fall in love. The "strangler" seizes Chris and Maria offers her life if Chris is spared.

To combat the lawlessness in her town, school teacher Carrie Stokes writes to her former students in search of a lawman. Johnny Revere arrives and starts to clean up the town. But things go bad when he is hit on the head and loses his memory.

J. D. Forbes, head of the almost-bankrupt Four Star Studios in Hollywood contacts band leader Kay Kyser, who puts on a radio and-live theatre program called "The Kollege of Musical Knowledge," to appear in films. When manager Chuck Deems gets the studio offer, he and band members Ginny Simms, Sully Mason, Ish Kabiddle, Harry Babbitt and the others are all fired up at the prospect of going to Hollywood and working in the movies, but band-leader Kay is all against it and says his old grandmother has told him to stay in his own back yard, but he relents. Once there, Stacey Delmore, a Four Star associate producer left in charge of the studio while Forbes is out of town, discovers that the screenplay writers have prepared a script that has Kay Kyser playing a glamorous lover in an exotic European setting.