A boatload of Westerners is trapped in Manchuria as bandits led by Russian renegade Voronsky ravage the area. Seeking refuge in a fortified inn, the group is led by the boat's Captain Carson, who becomes involved with a woman who "belongs" to Voronsky. Carson must contend with the bandits outside and the conflicting personalities of those trapped inside the inn, as well as dealing with spies among the inn's personnel.
Noted gunman Black Jack and his friends arrive and take jobs on the Allen ranch. Allen's hands have quit and his cattle are being rustled. When one of Black Jack's friends is killed by the rustlers, he finds the killer and when they fight his Marshal's badge drops out and Ruby, the leader of the rustlers, picks it up. With his identity now known she sets a trap for him.
Police Chief Jim Fitzpatrick is fighting gangster Sam Belmonte. He asks his dishonest brother Ed to keep an eye on Daisy who was connected with Belmonte.
When a hot young prosecutor learns that a man he got convicted and executed was in fact innocent, he quits his DA job and becomes a defense attorney. He grows rich and powerful defending guilty racketeers, but eventually sees the errors of his ways.
A federal agent goes undercover to infiltrate a drug smuggling operation headed by a mysterious Mr. X, a criminal mastermind whose identity is unknown even to his henchmen. Mr. X is also running a bogus hospital where victims are killed on the operating table, and their coffins stuffed with narcotics. The drug-filled coffins are then buried in a cemetery.
When Polly Fisher, a circus aerialist, is hurt while performing, she is taken to the house of a nearby minister, John Hartley. As she recuperates, they fall in love with each other and secretly marry. But when the truth leaks out , John's congregation rebels at having a circus woman as their minister's wife, and he is fired. Polly decides to leave John in hopes of giving back to him the calling that means so much to him. But fate steps in and rearranges all plans.
An old yet spry man comes to Chicago to live with his son and daughter-in-law. Despite the old fellow's good intentions, he becomes a useless irritation to the couple. However, Grandpa befriends a young orphan boy, whom he helps to set upon the straight and narrow path. He finds solace in this relationship and also in the company of elderly men who live in a home nearby.