Two boys – the prince Edward and the pauper Tom – are born on the same day. Years later, when young teenage Tom sneaks into the palace garden, he meets the prince. They change clothes with one another before the guards discover them and throw out the prince thinking he's the urchin. No one believes them when they try to tell the truth about which is which. Soon after, the old king dies and the prince will inherit the throne.

In 1930s Budapest, naïve orphan Luisa Ginglebuscher becomes an usherette at the local movie house, determined to succeed in her first job by doing good deeds for others and maintaining her purity. Luisa's well-meaning lies get her caught between a lecherous businessman, Konrad, and a decent but confused doctor, Max Sporum. When Luisa convinces Konrad that she's married to Max, Konrad tries everything he can to get rid of the baffled doctor.

When lovely and virtuous governess Henriette Deluzy comes to educate the children of the debonair Duc de Praslin, a royal subject to King Louis-Philippe and the husband of the volatile and obsessive Duchesse de Praslin, she instantly incurs the wrath of her mistress, who is insanely jealous of anyone who comes near her estranged husband. Though she saves the duchess's little son from a near-death illness and warms herself to all the children, she is nevertheless dismissed by the vengeful duchess as the attraction between the duke and Henriette continues to grow.

Pickpocket Kitty's life changes when painter Thomas Gainsborough makes her portrait. The artwork gains the attention of Sir Hugh Marcy, who later decides to use her for his benefit.

Jo March and her husband Professor Bhaer operate the Plumfield School for poor boys. When Dan, a tough street kid, comes to the school, he wins Jo's heart despite his hard edge, and she defends him when he is falsely accused. Dan's foster father, Major Burdle, is a swindler in cahoots with another crook called Willie the Fox. When the Plumfield School becomes in danger of foreclosure, the two con men cook up a scheme to save the home.

Before his daughter can formally claim her rightful title, her father dies. Now her blue-blooded American suitor finds that his father refuses to allow the two to marry as she is not a high-born lady.

The circus arrives in Great Shows. Rainey Big Ben and Kit Denton, the star of the show, are informed that no representation will be allowed in the city, and that their presence is not desired by the local potentate. This incomprehensible hatred is equaled only by the Kit 's father's contempt for women. Kit, who criticized his father's contemptuous attitude towards Alicia, his girlfriend, Kit's father tells him of the drama he lived in Big Ben many years earlier.

When King's beloved horse dies, Princess tries to purchase a new nag, and that's how she inadvertently gets her hands on a "stolen" race horse. Our heroine nearly ends up with a lengthy prison term before the story is resolved during the climactic Big Race.

A songwriter's young daughter (June Lang) begins to dream of stardom when she's offered the lead role in a new operetta.

A newscaster gets demoted for exposing the town's criminal activities over the airwaves.

Randolph Graves, a high-pressure haberdashery salesman, is fired for arguing with a customer and gets job selling oil stock in a nearby town; there he falls in love with the sheriff's daughter and tangles with crooked stock promoters.

A cattleman's association hires a range detective to track down and capture a notorious rustler known as El Lobo.

The daughter of a notorious cattle thief falls for a stranger at a dance. The stranger is really a lawman who is after her father.

Hester and Hezekiah plan to get Dorothy Horton's inheritance. But when Pete and his men rob the stage they learn of the scheme and send Jim to replace Hezekiah. The Deputy Marshal breaks this up but Black Pete arrives wearing the Marshal's badge and has the Sheriff take him away while he flees with the inheritance money.

When Tad Wallace's act flops on Broadway, he joins a troop heading west. In a small town, they run into Jeffries who has just burned down the theater. When Jeffries kills Griswold, Tad has a plan to trap him by using the talents of Shakespearian actor Thorndyke.

Jimmy Dixon, pursued by a band of Mexicans, changes clothes with a tramp, who takes off on his horse. Four miles later, Jimmy walks onto the Double-O Ranch, from which he had been thrown off four years before by his dad, who had blamed Jimmy for something that his twin brother Duke had done. Duke, home from college, took over the ranch when Mr. Dixon became ill, and has run it into the ground. When Duke goes to the bank to repay a debt to Jimmy, he rides onto Phoenix with all of the ranch money.

When ghosts inhabit an Englishwoman's home, Dyall, a ghost hunter of sorts, takes on the poltergeists. Developments reveal a trio of spirits that includes a sailor, the seaman's late wife, and her lover, whom the sailor had shot.

Jimmy, a young boy, idolizes famed train engineer Casey Jones and is devastated when his hero is killed in a train wreck. The boy grows up to be a railroad engineer, too, but one day the train he is piloting loses its brakes and wrecks. Jimmy tries to fix it but has to jump off at the last minute. Unfortunately, stories begin to circulate that he turned coward and jumped off the train first, letting it be destroyed rather than try to save it. He sets out to clear his name.