
The brightest stars and celebrated movies spanning the Golden Ages of Hollywood.
Zach Provo (James Coburn), a half-Indian outlaw, has spent 11 years in shackles, dreaming of enacting revenge on Sam Burgade (Charlton Heston), the sheriff who put him away. After a sudden escape from a chain gang, Provo recruits his fellow prisoners for a buried-loot mission that is, really, a pretext for attempting revenge on Burgade. After the gang kidnaps Sam's daughter, Susan (Barbara Hershey), Sam becomes a man possessed, leading to a violent, bloody showdown between him and Provo.
A rancher (Randolph Scott) hunts down those responsible for killing his wife during a Wells Fargo holdup.
When solitary cowboy Jefferson Cody (Randolph Scott) hears tales of a white woman living as a captive of the Comanche tribe, he rides deep into the tribe's territory to exchange goods for her freedom. As Cody escorts the captive woman away, he learns that she is Nancy Lowe (Nancy Gates), and that there is a sizable reward offered by her husband for her return. Cody and Mrs. Lowe must brave ruthless bounty hunters greedy for the reward, as well as the now-warring Comanches, to make it to safety.
Dan (Mickey Rooney) is a nice guy who needs $20 for a hot date with waitress Vera (Jeanne Cagney). He sneaks the sum from his boss, fully intending to pay it back later by collecting from a buddy who owes him. The friend never makes good on the money, so Dan pulls a small con for the cash. However, this petty crime lands Dan in hot water, and he finds himself committing a more serious transgression to buy his way out of trouble. But this is just the start of a very unlucky pattern.
Gangster Radak (Raymond Burr) and his cronies try to coerce truck driver Steve (Steve Brodie) into shipping stolen goods, but Steve manages to tip off the police and foil the crooks. Radak evades capture, but his brother ends up gunning down a policeman and going to jail. Radak and his men attempt to pressure Steve into taking the fall for the killing, using the well-being of the trucker's wife, Anne (Audrey Long), as leverage. But Anne and Steve manage to skip town, and the chase is on.
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.
Cellist Karel Novak (Paul Henreid) was presumed to be killed during the war; so his sudden return surprises everyone, especially his lover Christine Radcliffe (Bette Davis). She is overjoyed that he is alive, but their reunion is uneasy, as he suspects that she found someone else in his absence. Still, they quickly marry in an attempt to rebuild their lives. At their wedding the jealous behavior of Composer Alexander Hollenius (Claude Rains) leads Karel to suspect that he may be the other man.
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.