Wallace a wealthy landowner in Meriwether County, Georgia, has virtually unlimited power in the county, including having the sheriff under his control. When he murders a share cropper he thinks that he is powerful enough to get away with it. Because the act of murder took place in Coweta County, it is under the jurisdiction of the Coweta County sheriff who hunts the murderer without trepidation.

A young woman, unable to handle the stress of raising a family, runs out on her husband and young daughter. 12 years later, she returns in hopes of rekindling a bond with them.

Colonial representatives gather in Philadelphia with the aim of establishing a set of governmental rules for the burgeoning United States. Benjamin Franklin and John Adams charge Thomas Jefferson with the task of writing a statement announcing the new country's emancipation from British rule.

Hackman plays a New York professor who wants a change in his life, and plans to get married to his girlfriend and move to California. His mother understands his need to get away, but warns him that moving so far away could be hard on his father. Just before the wedding, the mother dies. Hackman's sister (who has been disowned by their father for marrying a Jewish man) advises him to live his own life, and not let himself be controlled by their father.

Since she was a child, Natalie Miller has always thought she was an ugly ducking. Despite her mother's encouragement that she will grow up to be pretty, Natalie has never believed it will happen. She rents a Greenwich Village apartment from an eccentric landlady and gets a job at the Topless Bottom Club. She rides a motorcycle to work, decorates her loft with a moose head, and rides up and down a dumbwaiter to get to her apartment. There Natalie meets David an artist, and the two have a love affair before she discovers he is married.