
The brightest stars and celebrated movies spanning the Golden Ages of Hollywood.
One of the wealthiest men in the world, Jean-Marc Clement (Yves Montand) is rich in money, but lacking in love. While seeking someone who adores him for his personality rather than his fortune, Clement learns that he is the subject of a satirical theater production. Unrecognized as he visits the play's set, Clement is offered the part as himself by the show's unwitting producers, and he takes the gig to be close to the gorgeous yet down-to-earth actress Amanda Dell (Marilyn Monroe).
During World War II, Nazi officer Max Radl devises a plan to kidnap or kill the British prime minister. Approved by German Cmdr. Heinrich Himmler, the scheme moves forward with Col. Kurt Steiner leading the mission, aided by Liam Devlin, an Irishman with a deep hatred of England. As the plan unfolds, it seems to be going well -- until certain events threaten the group's shot at success.
Tailor Jonah Goodwin (Thomas Mitchell) and lowly cook Olaf Johnson (John Qualen) are saving their money to go in as partners on a large fishing boat and make a long-desired career change. One night, small-time gangster Harold Goff (John Garfield) bullies them into paying him five dollars a week and then has them sign a document saying the money is repayment on a loan. When Jonah's self-centered daughter Stella (Ida Lupino) takes up with Goff, the pair decide to do away with him.
Pregnant nineteen-year old Marie Allen (Eleanor Parker) is sentenced to prison as an accessory to robbery. The warden, Ruth Benton (Agnes Moorehead), dedicated to reforming even the most hardened of the prisoners, deals fairly with Marie, even upon learning of her condition. The naïve Marie comes up against tough block matron Evelyn Harper (Hope Emerson) and must decide whether accepting the friendship of the toughest prisoners will rub off on her and affect the future of her unborn child.
Novelist Tom Garrett (Dana Andrews) and publisher Austin Spencer (Sidney Blackmer) intend to show how lawyer Roy Thompson (Philip Bourneuf) has been using circumstantial evidence in capital punishment trials. They concoct a scheme in which flimsy evidence will point to Garrett as a murder suspect, but Spencer will exonerate him at the end. Meanwhile, they keep the plan a secret from Spencer's daughter, Susan (Joan Fontaine), who is engaged to Garrett. However, the trial doesn't go as planned.
A serial killer is on the loose in New York City. Dubbed The Lipstick Killer, he has also strangely become the center of a power struggle between three division chiefs in a media empire. The directive from their inexperienced boss, Walter Kyne (Vincent Price), is simple: Whoever catches the killer gets promoted to executive editor. But newspaper editor John Day Griffith (Thomas Mitchell) has one distinct advantage in the form of crack reporter Edward Mobley (Dana Andrews).
A woman is found dead in what seems to be a suicide at the estate of radio host Victor Grandison (Claude Rains). Grandison, who reads chilling murder mysteries on the radio, is at first suspected of murder but is quickly able to clear his name with the police. Then mysterious Steven Francis Howard (Michael North) arrives, claiming to be the husband of Grandison's niece -- who was thought dead in a shipwreck. Howard begins looking into the suicide and soon brings to light new evidence.
Although Larry Ballentine (Robert Young) is married to the wealthy Greta (Rita Johnson), he still sees other women on the side. While he is involved with Verna Carlson (Susan Hayward), they commit embezzlement and run away together. However, a car accident occurs in which Verna is burned to death and thought to be Greta by police. When Larry goes to find Greta, he discovers that she has died in an equestrian accident and hides her body. Now Larry stands trial for murder of the missing Verna.