A Depression-downtrodden waif uses her brains instead of her body to rise from tyro con artist to crime boss.
Stolen way back in 1880, a sack of United States mail is discovered in an old attic in 1942. The letters are finally delivered, profoundly affecting the lives of the recipients.
A circus performer falls in love with the son of a plantation owner in antebellum New Orleans. When the young man's stepmother objects to the wedding, the couple break apart and go their separate ways for a time. Also in the mix are two circus comics who feud over the heart of another Southern belle.
A Parisian tailor goes to a château to collect a bill, only to fall for an aloof young princess living there.
A wealthy landowner living in Haiti convinces a sorcerer to lure the woman he has fallen for away from her fiancé. The madman later betrays their agreement by keeping the woman for himself…As a zombie.
At the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, sideshow barker Florenz Ziegfeld turns the tables on his more-successful neighbor Billings, and also steals his girlfriend. This pattern repeats throughout their lives, as Ziegfeld makes and loses many fortunes putting on ever-bigger, more spectacular shows
In 1898, composer Sid Barnett manages to get his sweetheart, Adeline the beer-garden singer, to sing the lead in his new Broadway operetta; this infuriates Elysia, the erstwhile star. But Sid frets as Adeline spends increasing amounts of time with the dashing Major Day.
In order to avoid a prearranged marriage, a rebellious French princess sheds her identity and escapes to colonial New Orleans, where she finds an unlikely true love.
Buddy Rogers and Marian Nixon playing the grown children of feuding German-Americans Frank Morgan and Joseph Cawthorn. Romance blossoms between Rogers and Nixon, while Morgan and Cawthorn continue muttering Teutonic imprecations at one another.
After a quarrel at their 25th wedding anniversary, Joe and Aggie Bruno decide to divorce each other, and both leave for Reno. So do their daughters Prudence and Pansy, but they want to get their parents back together. Joe and Aggie, accidentally, are becoming clients at the same law-firm, Wattles and Swift, which is the biggest and most successful in town.
A young Frenchwoman is determined to get into and stay in show business, no matter what. Then she's determined to win a recently divorced man's heart... again, no matter what.
Bob Preston, publicity man for Superba Pictures, uses his publicity skills in an attempt to make this fiancée June Dale the most famous movie star in the world. But in doing so, he forgets that women want to be attended to for themselves, not as objects of fame.
Male and female sales agents, Phil and Ruth, for rival hosiery concerns try to land an order. For a while Phil succeeds and puts on an exhibition but Ruby makes the mannequins use her own brand of hose, flirts with the buyer and wins order away from her rival.
In New England circa 1933, a niece is reported missing and presumed dead and Cabot Barr (George Arliss) summons his relatives to the family estate for a memorial service. Once there, Barr taunts each one, claiming their only interest in him is his money, and sends them away when the report about the niece proves to be false. Only niece Marjorie, who has ridiculed one of his pet eccentricities, seems to be the object of any sentimental affection.
A midwest band leader and his lead singer share a love-hate relationship as they try for success in New York.
Suave French actor Philippe Martin provokes a scandal when, in a darkened theater, he mistakes young Monique for his mistress, Yvonne, and tries to kiss her. Charged with assault, the quick-thinking Philippe claims it's French tradition to do as he did, and is let go. To his surprise, Philippe learns that Monique has paid his fine. As the tabloids exploit the situation, Monique dates Philippe, until a photo appears of him kissing Yvonne.
The life and loves of composer Stephen Foster, from his early success through his decline, degradation, and death from alcoholism.
Fred, the wealthy owner of apple groves, has sent his nephew to college, but the only job that his nephew has after graduating is the job of not working. Bill is a dreamer, a talker and a golf player and he has a lot of ideas, but still lives off Fred. When Hazel gets engaged to Doc Jenkins, it takes a while, but Bill talks her into marrying him instead. The only problem is that now, he needs to find a job.
Nan Reynolds encourages her copywriter husband Bill to open his own agency. Nearly out of business, he finally gets a client. Former girlfriend Patricia Berkeley writes a very successful commercial for the client and neats up their old romance. Wife and girlfriend struggle over Bill.
Salesman develops a fake stock plan in new invention before it is finished.
Medical intern Robert Morley is distraught after his wife dies in childbirth. He's resentful of his new son and wants nothing to do with him. He leaves the child with his aunt and uncle and heads off to Europe to pursue his medical studies. Morley returns to his hometown six years later, now a successful doctor and engaged to be married to a beautiful socialite. He also feels differently about the boy and attempts to gain custody from his aunt and uncle.
A dance trophy winning young couple is temporarily split up when a playboy aviator leads the girl to believe he's in love with her.
Filmed in an early Technicolor process, The Runaround tells the story of Broadway dancer Evelyn who refuses to play the gold-digging games indulged in by her fellow chorines
A young, innocent small-town church organist is thrown out of her home, told she was adopted, and that her mother was an evil woman. She follows a crush to the big city and is left fending for herself.
A Hollywood studio goofs and signs the wrong girl--a hillbilly from the Ozarks--to a movie contract. Comedy.
A young man from Argentina goes to Yale where he plays football and falls in love with a professor's beautiful daughter.
A young songwriter struggles to make good in New York.
Unscrupulous agent Rush Blake makes singing waiter Buddy Clayton a big radio star while Peggy Cornell, who has lost her own radio show, helps Buddy.
Ex-convicts try to stop a Chinese smuggling ring.
A mystery writer and his sweetheart are held hostage by a fugitive gangster, who hopes to enlist their help in devising the perfect murder.
A country girl goes to the city and gets a job in a posh hotel, and winds up becoming an instant celebrity thanks to an ambitious photographer.
Director William C. McGann's 1935 film stars Gloria Stuart and Ross Alexander as a young couple in love who face economic woes once they're wed.
A homeless and destitute violinist joins a combo to bring it success, but has problems with her love life.
Socialite Pat Reynolds (Ida Lupino) is forced to become the "smart girl" of the title when her wealthy father commits suicide, leaving nothing but a pile of debts. Pat sets up a successful hat-designing business, providing the sole support for herself and her sister Kay (Gail Patrick). So devoted is Pat to Kay's welfare that she stands by in stoic silence as Kay begins romancing Pat's sweetie Nick Graham (Kent Taylor).
A songwriter's young daughter (June Lang) begins to dream of stardom when she's offered the lead role in a new operetta.
A star rower is forced to join a good school under a pseudonym because his wealthy dad doesn't like schools that have high academic standards.
Alice Faye plays the title role in this 1940 film biography of the early-20th-century stage star.
An immigrant and his wife arrive in America hoping to make it big in the world of music. Shortly thereafter, though, the husband finds out his wife is having an affair with a local lowlife; when he turns up dead, the husband is jailed for his murder, even though he protests his innocence.
Husband-and-wife vaudeville stars separate when success goes to his head.
Adapted from Shakespeare's play: Baptista Minola, a wealthy resident of Padua, is the father of Katherine and Bianca. The younger daughter, Bianca, is charming and has many suitors. But her father will not allow Bianca to be married until her older sister, who is notoriously quarrelsome and bad-tempered, is married first. When Petruchio comes from Verona to Padua in search of a wife, he hears of this situation, and he accepts the challenge of trying to woo and marry the ill-natured Katherine.
An anti-Nazi refugee on the run and a young Jewish couple race across Europe trying to escape Hitler's ever powerful influence.
John Paul Bart is just a pants-presser in a tailor's shop, but he has big ambitions. One night, he borrows the clothes of a wealthy client and bluffs his way into a high society party. After meeting wealthy businessman Abraham Nathan, John Paul quickly rises to the top of Nathan's company. Suffering during The Depression, John Paul helps Nathan save his company with a radical program of cooperative ownership between workers and management. Meanwhile, John Paul makes an enemy of Gustav, who is engaged to Tanya - the daughter of Mr. Huber, owner of the tailor shop. John Paul maintains a friendship with Tanya, provoking jealousy in Gustav. Gustav threatens to reveal John Paul's plain origins to Nathan, and John Paul briefly resigns from Nathan's company. However, John Paul's plan is a success, and Nathan hires him back immediately. Tanya leaves Gustav and ends up with John Paul.
With the police on their tail, a gang of New York criminals decided to relocate to London where they plan a major robbery on a department store.
A young lady impersonates a famous sportswoman while trying to win over a man.
Romance strikes when a vacationing millionairess and her daughter and son spend their vacation at a posh New England resort.
Newspaper staffer Alice Woods persuades the editor to allow her to chase a story, that of prizefight contender Martin, who is about to fight for the championship. However, he does not know that his manager is preparing to double-cross him.
A Russian waiter in New York City becomes a national celebrity after he develops a "system" for winning at contract bridge.
A derogated prince hopes to restore his wealth and power by marrying off his daughter to royalty. Unfortunately, she has fallen in love with a young man who has been hired to fix the plumbing in their run-down castle.
The story of a theatrical producer, his divorced wife and their four children.
Marianna Miller, who together with her sister Sarah pounds the pavements, looking for a job. After a period of starvation and deprivation Marianna is hired as secretary to duplicitous businessman Philip Hancock.
A satire about the power of publicity. Robert Montgomery plays Jeff Bidwell, a dashing Broadway press agent who has his own private club where he cultivates the rich and powerful. With the help of his selfless ex-wife (Madge Evans), Jeff molds an illiterate, suicidal young woman (Sally Eilers) into a celebrity socialite.
The life of Stephen Foster, composer who was the influence for the early Minstrel shows.