Secret de Polichinelle roughly translates as Open Secret. The "secret" in question is an illegitimate child, the offspring of young-and-foolish Henri (Bernard Lacret). The baby is adopted by its grandparents, Monsieur and Madame Jouvenol (Raimu and Francoise Rosay). At first taking charge of the child because it is their duty, the Jouvenols come to love the little nipper as if he were their own son. At this point, the film threatens to drown in a morass of sentiment, but the actors and the director manage to stem the bathos with some first-rate comedy vignettes revolving around the care and feeding of the bouncing baby boy.
A newly hired police chief vows to clean up a notoriously corrupt police department. When he is murdered, investigators find that there is no shortage of suspects, most of them being fellow cops.
Frankie Reynolds (Frankie Darro' ), youngest member of a family of jockeys, borrows $4.85 (yes, four dollars and eighty-five cents) from his sister Phyllis (Gladys Blake), who is not a jockey, to buy a crippled colt from the stables owned by Clay Harrison (Kane Richmond).
A retired Scotland Yard detective, Patrick Fitzpatrick (Tom Walls) comes back to take one final case, tracking down a missing vase which has been stolen by a gang of thieves specialising in taking art treasures.
Although Larry "Buster" Crabbe earns top billing, the hero of Drift Fence is former Western star Tom Keene as Jim Travis, who, at a rodeo, meets city dweller Jim Traft, who has come west to erect a fence that will prevent Clay Jackson from continuing his cattle rustling business.
Little Elmer Elephant has a crush on Tillie Tiger and his affection is reciprocated. Trouble is, the pint-sized pachyderm is beset by bullies who ridicule his trunk and make his life miserable.