African-American Philadelphia police detective Virgil Tibbs is arrested on suspicion of murder by Bill Gillespie, the racist police chief of tiny Sparta, Mississippi.
Art film producer Jeremy Prokosch, unhappy with the work of his director, hires Fritz Lang (as himself) to direct an adaptation of The Odyssey, but when it seems that the legendary filmmaker is making a picture destined to bomb, he brings in a screenwriter to energise the script.
Bold performer Tira works as dancing beauty and lion tamer at a fair. Out of an urgent financial need, she agrees to a risky new number: she'll put her head into the lion's mouth! With this attraction, the circus makes it to New York and Tira can pursue her dearest occupation — flirting with rich men and accepting expensive presents.
When her fiancé is killed, dancehall queen Cleo Borden inherits his wealth. Included are oil wells overseen by British engineer Carrington, whom Cleo sets out to win by becoming a 'lady'.
Nightclub entertainer Ruby Carter moves from St. Louis to New Orleans to escape Tiger Kid. At Ace Lamont's club, she gains fame but faces drama with Ace's ex Molly.
During World War II, a junior American Army officer, Lt. Peter Stirling, gets sent to the psychiatric ward whenever he insists that an Army mule named Francis speaks to him.
Luis Aguilar is a talented piano student who struggles to make ends meet. At the conservatory he meets the beautiful, rich, and also talented piano student Marta Reyes and romance ensues.
Jimmy and his pal Cannonball are hired by a rancher and horse breeder to capture Midnight, a wild stallion that has been interfering with local herds and has a reputation as a killer.
Around 1750, in the Dauphiné not far from the Swiss border, a cooper, tired of the injustices affecting the peasants crushed by taxes, went into revolt.