Elliott Nugent

1905 was a period of heavy immigration from Europe to America before laws were passed restricting the flow of immigrants. Almost every character in this movie is a recent arrival. Tisa has been in America only four months, yet she is holding four jobs to save enough money to pay for her father's boat passage to America. She works in a garment factory in Greenwich Village owned by Mr. Grumbach, who is studying to pass his citizenship test. Denek, a brash young man, tries to help her but gets her into trouble and her deportation is ordered by an immigration judge.

A young soldier on a pass in New York City visits the famed Stage Door Canteen, where famous stars of theatre and film appear and host a recreational center for servicemen during the war. The soldier meets a pretty young hostess and they enjoy the many entertainers and a growing romance.

A failed poet ends up becoming a gag writer for a bombastic comedian.

Elizabeth Rimplegar inhabits a household populated by virtual lunatics. Her mother, Nellie, mishandled the family fortune, and, alas, the stock market crash has depleted their worth. Elizabeth's goofy brothers cannot easily adjust to the life of the average worker. Meanwhile, the family doctor has his eye on Elizabeth, but he will have to compete with her suitor, an ill-informed writer.

Cary, Shep, Bill, and Francis are pilots during World War I. The four friends, haunted by the devastation of the war, head to Paris instead of home, where they meet Nikki, an eccentric and wealthy young woman. Nikki is drawn to Cary, and the five friends, tagged by the boorish reporter, Frink, drink their way from Paris to Lisbon.

When a rich young man marries, he lets the books and letters left him by his dead mother guide his life.

A trio of former sideshow performers double as the "Unholy Three" in a scam to nab some shiny rocks.

A beautiful opera star kept by a rich older man falls in love with a young clergyman.

A barber turns down a promising business venture in order to take his sick son to a drier climate out west.

Not-so-smart chatterbox Dulcy Parker does and says all the wrong things, but they right themselves to prove she's not so dumb after all.