A rich Texan, J.W. Grant, selects three men and invites them to his private train to offer them a contract: Rescue his wife who has been kidnapped by a Mexican revolutionary. The leader of the men, Rico, decides they would be a better team if Grant would hire one more man, an explosives expert. Grant quickly agrees and soon the four are off to complete the contract. However, while on the trail, they discover some interesting facts, like has Mrs. Grant 'really' been kidnapped?

A drifter comes back to his home-town to make it in the movies. Along with him is a 'has-been' movie star. What happens when he runs into the same people who forced him to leave his town?

New York City newspaper "The Day" is in trouble. Even though editor Ed Hutcheson (Humphrey Bogart) has worked hard running the paper, its circulation has been steadily declining. Now the widow (Ethel Barrymore) of the paper's publisher wants to sell the paper, which will most likely mean its end. Hutcheson also worries that his estranged ex-wife is about to remarry. His only hope of saving the paper is to finish his exposé on a dangerous gangster (Martin Gabel) before the sale is made final.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a newspaper organizes an endurance horse race : 700 miles to run in a few days. 9 adventurers are competing, among them a woman, Miss Jones, a Mexican, an Englishman, a young cow-boy, an old one and two friends, Sam Clayton and Luke Matthews. All those individualists will learn to respect each other.

Brick and Gooper are sons of "Big Daddy" Pollit. Brick is the favored son, a former football star but now a drunk, who's married to "Maggie the Cat". Maggie caters to Big Daddy, and desperately loves her despondent husband. Gooper, the son that's actually made something of himself, has a chip on his shoulder. He and his wife Mae Flynn try to gain control of dying Big Daddy's estate. Big Daddy, married to Big Momma, "ruled" all the members of his family with an iron fist while he built his empire and manipulated events in their lives.