While Carl (Meeker) is at work, his wife Elsa (Miles) is apparently attacked and left traumatized by an intruder in their trailer park home. After reporting it to the police and talking to Elsa's doctor, Carl decides to take Elsa on a vacation. Later, while driving in town, Elsa points out a man as her attacker. Seeking revenge, an enraged Carl follows the man and kills him in his hotel room. But a little later, Elsa, still mentally disturbed, identifies another man as her attacker, leading Carl to realize, too late, that he might have killed an innocent man as the police close in on them. Elsa is taken away to a mental hospital while Carl is tried, convicted and sentenced to prison for taking the law into his own hands.

Kim (Forsythe) returns home to the U.S. after four years in Paris, hoping to reunite with his estranged father. He learns that his father died four years ago, a fact that his brother and sister-in-law did not tell him. Kim suspects foul play, but eventually learns that he is the one who killed his father, and he has been in a mental hospital for four years; his memories of Paris are just a delusion.

Cowboys Red (McGavin) and Dell (Barry) meet in old Maggie (Corby)'s roadhouse and threaten a shoot-out. Maggie does her best to negotiate a peace, eventually convincing them to only shoot each other when the clock strikes. When the clock mysteriously stops, the men take it to be a sign from God and leave peacefully. The light-hearted ending is enhanced by an explanation of why the clock stops.

Financially strapped couple Frank (Blackmer) and Mildred Partridge (Gregg) scheme to have Mildred "disappear" for seven years and declared legally dead in order to collect Frank's insurance pay-off. Insurance investigator Mr. Kettle (Emhardt) suspects that Frank killed Mildred, and his constant hounding of Frank means that the couple cannot be in contact with each other. The night before the seven years is up, Frank is visited by Mildred, who has moved on with life, and she declares that she wants a divorce and an end to the scheme. In a rage, Frank bludgeons her to death with a figurine and buries her in his garden. The next day Kettle apologizes to Frank for his assumption, and offers to help him with his garden.

Paris, 1899. British Mrs. Winthrop (Forbes) and her daughter Diana (Hitchcock) are on their way home via France, and check into a Paris hotel. Mrs. Winthrop is suddenly ill, and the hotel doctor (Mylong) sends Diana to his home for medicine. When Diana returns, the front-desk clerk (Marsac) and other hotel employees claim to have no recollection of her, nor is there any record that the Winthrops were ever there. Diana goes to the embassy, where her story is believed only by Basil Farnham (Toone). Diana and Basil demand to see the room, which is very different from Diana's description, but Diana rips off the wallpaper, proving that there is a conspiracy at hand. The cover-up is revealed to have been set in place by the French government, because Mrs. Winthrop, who is now dead, had the bubonic plague. Based on the Legend of the Vanishing Lady.

Lois (Gates) expects ex-con Dan (Barry) to kill her as revenge for her causing his brother's death. Dan is surprised when Lois refuses to put up a fight. He seemingly has a change of heart and offers her a business deal. Lois sets up a boutique, which after months of hard work is launched successfully. Dan also convinces Lois's ex-boyfriend, Tim, to reconcile with her. Lois, now happy and full of life, expresses her gratitude, but Dan reveals that he did all of it so that Lois would not want to die, and that now he can kill her with satisfaction, which he does by shooting her to death the moment he's done talking.

Cynical movie producer Mr. Callew (Cotten) fires a long-time employee on the phone and scoffs at his crying. Callew later gets into a car accident and is completely paralyzed. He is robbed and left for dead and ignored by everyone. Just when Callew is about to be declared legally dead, he saves himself at the last minute by getting the mortician's attentions with his tears.

With a serial-murderer maid on the loose in the city, Ralph (Sloane) becomes suspicious of his and his wife Ethel (Ward)'s housemaid, Mrs. Sutton (Bondi). When Ralph gets violent cramps at work, he has his home cocoa analyzed, and it turns out to contain arsenic. Ralph initially blames Mrs. Sutton, until he learns that the serial murderer has been caught. However, Mrs. Sutton confesses to him her unhappiness at having had to lie for Ethel, who is having an affair. Ethel, unaware of what Ralph has learned, offers him a cup of cocoa that she made for him.

Heavily indebted Charlie Raymond (Lawford) answers a newspaper ad placed by Walker Hendricks (Williams), who wants a companion for his road trip to San Francisco. During their journey, Charlie learns that Walker is on his way to claim an inheritance from a family that he has never met. Charlie kills Walker and takes his identity to present himself at the lawyer's office. There he is met by a police officer, who informs him that the real Walker Hendricks was killed much earlier, and the man that he had killed was English Jim, another con man who had also been after the inheritance.

Supporting cast: Gertrude Hoffman as Margaret Stoddard, Robert Warwick as Matthew Kelson, Frank Gerstle as Police Sergeant Mack, Charlie Cantor as Tommy DeWitt, Tim Graham as Bartender, Virginia Christine as Secretary

Albert Pelham (Ewell) is a businessman who has a paranoid suspicion that he has a double who is slowly taking over his life, and is better at it. Pelham varies his schedule and buys a one-of-a-kind neck tie in the hopes of catching his double off-guard. When Pelham returns home, his double is already there, and they are seen together by Pelham's manservant Peterson (Watson). The impassive double points out that Pelham is the imposter by showing that he is wearing an unusual tie, and when Peterson believes him and thinks that Pelham is the impostor, Pelham has a mental breakdown. The impostor Pelham takes over Pelham's life, while the real Pelham is taken away to a lunatic asylum.

Stanley (Mantell) and Dorothy (Maguire) Crane live in the apartment below volatile couple Amelia (Evelyn) and Ben (Kemmer) Verber, and often hear them fighting. After a particularly loud fight, Ben mysteriously vanishes, and Dorothy pushes Stanley to find out more. Despite his skepticism, Stanley helps Sgt. Halloran's (Simon) investigation. They eventually discover that Amelia killed and hid Ben's body in the basement, and the reason the fight got so out of hand was because Ben was about to leave Amelia — for Dorothy.

Disgruntled ex-con Harold Sears (Fitzgerald) is hired as a department store Santa thanks to his parole officer, Clementine Webster (Gregg). Sears loathes the job, but his attention is caught by a cynical poor boy who wants an expensive toy and believes that Santa is unable to give it to him. Sears steals the toy to give it to the boy for Christmas. Sears is caught by the police, but Webster understands Sears' intent and has the charges dropped.

Lyle Endicott (McGavin) worms his way into the good graces of Martha Cheney (Collinge), a rich, invalid woman with a penchant for sculpture. Lyle hopes to obtain her Cheney vase, which will fetch a high price on the market. Lyle methodically cuts Martha off from the world in the hopes that she will die. When Lyle's girlfriend warns the authorities about his plan, Lyle rushes to Martha's gallery to take the vase, but discovers that Martha has been working on dozens of copies of the vase, and now he is unable to identify the correct one.

When middle-aged Mr. Stepp (Qualen) is suddenly fired, he shoots his boss Baldwin (Cabot). Stepp is surprised when Baldwin is at work the next day as though nothing happened. Baldwin's partner, King (Reed), convinces Stepp that he hallucinated the shooting, but King has actually hired a look-alike actor named Davidson to take Baldwin's place in order to close an important deal. King and Davidson agree to stage Baldwin's "death" later, and in order to close all possible leaks, King forces Stepp to retire. In retaliation, Stepp shoots and kills King.

Gangster Sam Dunleavy (Mathews) wants to murder his ex-girlfriend, Goldie (Michaels), so he has his friend Barney (Stone) arrange for him the perfect alibi. Barney has it staged as though he and Sam are playing a game of poker in Barney's back room. Sam sneaks out successfully, but is unable to kill Goldie when she claims that she is pregnant. When Sam returns to Barney's backroom, Barney has accidentally shot himself, and Sam is arrested for murder.

Sam Cobbett (Cassavetes) has just broken out of prison and enters the house of Mary Schaffner (Pavan) while her husband is away. Cobbett makes Mary cook for him, dismiss her neighbors when they come by, and pretend that everything is okay over the phone when her mother calls. Cobbett believes that he can take his time, but the police suddenly arrive to arrest him. They were tipped off by Mary's mother — Mary is deaf and should not have answered the phone.

Based on the Lizzie Borden murders, and set one year after Lizzie was acquitted for the murder of her parents. Ambitious reporter Nell Cutts (Rowles) barges into the home of the Borden sisters Lizzie (Mathews) and Emma (Lorring) in the hopes of an exclusive interview. Cutts' aggressive questioning causes Emma distress, but it turns out that Emma killed their parents, and Lizzie was merely trying to protect her.

Clarence (Harris) and Elmer (Qualen) are retired insurance agents, and hope to use their years of experience to save people that they believe will die soon. Clarence has his sights of Mrs. Shrike (Fleet), a boorish alcoholic who he believes has a death wish. They try to advise her to change her life and fix her house, but this just causes her to lash out. As the pair leave, they see Mrs. Shrike's husband return home, and she is killed soon afterward.

Businessman Ralph Cowell (Reed) strangles his silent partner, Alfred Sloane (Delevanti), to death in order to avoid paying what he owes. The murder is witnessed by vagrant Peter J. Goodfellow (Newton), who picks up Sloane's cigarette case with the IOU inside, and uses it to blackmail Cowell. Goodfellow and his friend Fenton Shanks (Silver) move into Cowell's home, much to the disgust of Cowell's wife, Herta (Knudsen). After months of Goodfellow and Fenton living with them and pawning almost everything in the Cowell home, Cowell is able to find the IOU and burn it. Goodfellow and Fenton leave, but soon afterward a police officer arrives with a pawn ticket signed by Cowell for Sloane's cigarette case, tying Cowell to the Sloane murder.

Detective Krovitch (Bronson) investigates the murder of juggler Luke Ockham in a theatre. His suspicions fall on John Fabian (Rains), a ventriloquist with a fixation on his female dummy, Riabouchinska (voice of Gregg). Riabouchinska, seemingly acting independent of Fabian's control, insists on telling Krovitch the truth that Fabian killed Ockham, because Ockham threatened to expose Fabian and Riabouchinska's love affair to the world. Riabouchinska declares she can no longer love Fabian and stops moving, while Fabian is arrested by Krovitch.

American journalist Mary Prescott (Trevor) is traveling on a train out of the Iron Curtain when she is befriended by local celebrity Jan Gubak (Bergerac). Mary agrees to carry a luxury watch for Gubak, but during the customs inspection Gubak turns her in to officers for smuggling luxury items. Mary is arrested, but released soon after when the watch is discovered to be fake. Mary learns that Gubak is part of the underground resistance, and the charade was to create a distraction that enabled Gubak to smuggle sensitive microfilm out of the country. Gubak gives Mary the microfilm and urges her to write the truth about his country.

Ray Clements (Damon) travels to a monastery to get revenge on a crook who is taking sanctuary there. Father Vincente (Sloane) advises him to choose forgiveness, and Clements is forced to leave. Clements later kills the crook's partner in self-defense and takes sanctuary at the same monastery. He tells Father Vincente that he no longer wants revenge, but the crook has already died.

Herbert Carpenter (Williams) is digging a hole in his basement under the guise of building a wine cellar. He and his loving but pesky wife Hermione (Elsom) are planning a long holiday in California, which he desires to be permanent. Their servant Elsie (Glessing) is preparing the house for their extended absence. They hold one last party with friends, such as Major (Gould-Porter) and Mrs. Sinclair (Kemble-Cooper), Mr. and Mrs. Hewitt (Hamer and Tedrow), and others. They discuss jet flight, which the Carpenters fear, versus driving, their preferred mode of travel. On the day of their departure, and after doting good-byes from their friends, Herbert bludgeons his wife to death, as planned, and buries her body in the basement. He is almost caught in the act by a surprise visit from friends Mr. and Mrs. Wallingford (Muir and Warren), but he hides until they leave. He then goes off alone on his road trip to California and a new job there, where he gloats in his freedom from marriage and forges a fake letter from Hermione. Then one day soon after arriving at his new swanky “digs,” Herbert receives the mail from his new employer Mr. Hall (Ford) while waiting for his new maid (Harris). Among the letters to his wife from their friends back home is a bill from a contractor for work that Hermione had secretly arranged for - excavating the wine cellar as a present for Herbert... meaning that his crime will be discovered.

Brothers Paul (Hatfield) and Henri (Coolidge) plot to kill their Aunt Rosalie (Natwick) to inherit her fortune. Paul has Henri grind glass into fine powder, and Paul adds it to the egg mixture that is supposed to make a soufflé for Rosalie's dinner. However, that night Rosalie insists on eating something else, and the next morning Paul dies when he eats an omelette made out of the lethal egg mixture.

Couple Frank (Bronson) and Lorna (Crane) Bramwell go to the mansion of eccentric Monica Laughton (Winwood) to rob her. The plan goes awry because Laughton is crazy and wholly unresponsive to their threats. The Bramwells become tired and frustrated, because they cannot find any money and there seems to be no food in the house. In desperation, they eat a batch of freshly-made muffins, not knowing that they are filled with rat poison. Laughton's fortune turns out to be inside a handbag that she carries everywhere with her.

Dead mystery writer Alexander Penn Arlington (Williams) is distraught when he arrives in Heaven not knowing who killed him. His angel, Wilfred (Napier), returns Alexander to Earth to repeat his last day to investigate. Alexander's assistant, nephew, wife and her lover all have motives. In his study, he tells them all that one of them is planning his death. His wife's lover turns off the light and Alexander is killed in the dark without seeing who did it. Returning to Heaven, Wilfred points out that the killer must have trusted the person who turned off the light, so it must have been Alexander's wife.

Elderly Mr. Crabtree (Qualen) is ordered by his boss, Mr. X (Greene), to kill a man who will enter his office on a certain day. Crabtree decides not to do the task, but when a man enters his office at the expected time, Crabtree is so upset at the thought of losing his job that he ends up killing him anyway. Shortly afterward another man, the correct target, arrives at Crabtree's office, but Crabtree has already received his payment for the murder and walks out.

Supporting cast: Madge Kennedy as Mrs. Laura Crabtree, Ruth Swanson as Miss Brown, John Harmon as Donations Collector, Malcolm Atterbury as the Blackmailer, Parley Baer as Police Detective Gryar, Paul Brinegar as Police Officer

Married couple Mark (Abbott) and Debbie (Gates)'s first anniversary is ruined when a portrait they commissioned is revealed to be of Mark's first wife, Jocelyn, who has been missing for five years. Debbie believes that Mark stills loves Jocelyn and urges him to find the truth. With the help of Mark's ex-brother-in-law Jeff (Bailey), Mark tracks down the painter, Arthur Clymer (Baragrey), who claims to have been married to Jocelyn and killed her in a jealous rage. Mark attacks Clymer because he (Clymer) described how Mark, in fact, actually killed Jocelyn five years ago. Clymer is actually a police officer and worked together with Jeff to get a confession out of Mark.

Antiques dealer Laurence Appleby (Harris) kills his wife, Lena, by deliberately causing her to fall and hit her head, in order to get her inheritance. Since he still has debts, he woos and marries wealthy heiress Martha Sturgis (Mundy). When Martha refuses to give him money, he tries to kill her, but she is prepared for him. Martha and her lawyer have evidence that Appleby killed his first wife, and if anything happens to Martha, her lawyer will go to the police. Appleby is about to comply with Martha's demands, but she accidentally falls and dies the same way as Lena.

Karen (Thaxter), a recovering alcoholic, wakes up hung over and with no memory of the night before. She slowly recalls attending a party with her fiancé, Jeff (Stevens). Karen started drinking again when she concludes that Jeff's business associate Renee (Allbritton) was trying to seduce him. Her last memory is of breaking a glass in her hand, and of Jeff trying to help her. Karen then learns that she is in jail for killing Jeff with that broken glass.

Sir Stephen Hurstwood (Clanton) offers a bet of $1,000 if Howard Latimer (McGuire) can stay the entire night in a supposedly haunted room of the Hurstwood mansion. Latimer is given a gun, one candle, one match, and a book that describes the mysterious beheading of Julia Hurstwood in the room. That night Latimer sees a ghostly headless figure and collapses in fright. The ghost is a trick set up by Hurstwood for money, but Latimer becomes insane from the experience.

Lottie Slocum (Ritter) is the last person to have seen Clara Nash (Mathews) before she was strangled to death. Lottie, who used to be the Nashes' babysitter, believes that Clara had it coming because she treated her husband Mr. Nash (Newton) badly. Lottie has feelings for Mr. Nash, and hopes to please him by keeping his secret from the police — that he was at home the night that Clara died — but he kills her instead.

Clint Ringle (Mullaney) wants to marry schoolteacher Ellie Marsh (Hitchcock), but when she refuses him, he kills her fiancé. Clint is hunted by the townsfolk and hides in the belfry of Ellie's school, planning to kill her when he gets the chance. Clint stays in the belfry for a few days and feels smug when everyone assumes that he is long gone. When Ellie's fiancé is buried, a man rings the bell for the funeral, causing Clint to shout in surprise and reveal his whereabouts.

Dana Edwards (McGuire)'s fiancée is killed in a hit-and-run, and he is unable to remember any details of the car involved. Dana is approached by a stranger who lost his son in a similar way, John Hurley (Harris), who claims to know how to give Dana Total recall. After many sessions, Dana is successfully able to remember the license plate of the car and tells the police. He is then surprised to learn that John Hurley is crazy and not a memory expert at all.

Wealthy but plain-looking housewife Irene Cole (Dana) is pursued by playboy Prince Burhan (Bergerac), but refuses to leave her neglectful husband (Hewitt) for him. When Burhan dies, Irene and her husband assume that he killed himself over his love for Irene. Some time later, Irene's friend Randolph Burnside (Clanton) learns that Burhan's death was an accident, and that he had pursued Irene for her money. Randolph decides to keep this a secret, however, when he learns that Irene, believing a man killed himself over his love for her, has a newfound confidence that has greatly improved her marriage.

Mild-mannered Paula Hudson (Hussey) is apprehended by the police for owning a stolen mink coat. Paula attempts to prove that she bought it, but to her distress the people she bought it from deny ever having sold it to her. Paula is eventually approached by the man who stole the coat, and he steals it back in order to end the investigation, but ends up being arrested.

Gil Larkin (Horton) is upset when he learns that the woman he loves, Mona Cameron (Williams), is being abused by her husband Ben (McDearmon). Gil confronts Ben in his office, but someone knocks Gil unconscious and shoots Ben. Gil is briefly apprehended, but after he is released he goes to Mona and realizes that she set him up so she could be with her lover, Ritchie (Lewis). Mona and Ritchie are arrested.

A murderer has killed two blonde women while they are alone at night. Ellen (Ford) is terrified, but her husband Steve (Brodie) is dismissive of her. While Steve is at work, Ellen is scared and suspicious of various people that she meets. She is only relieved when the locksmith arrives to fix a lock and chain on her door, but the locksmith turns out to be the murderer, and strangles Ellen as a terrified Steve listens to the commotion over the phone.

Richard (Homeier) and his wife Beth (Woodward) are about to be kicked out of their home. Richard steals the money that his boss, Burroughs (Christy), owes him, and in the process accidentally kills him. Richard becomes paranoid, and he overreacts and is shot when a financier comes to collect his debt. While injured and possibly dying, Richard discovers that Beth met Burroughs the night before and got the money that was owed them.

After his daughter Millie kills a man, Mr. Princey (Hardwicke) devises a plan to save his family name. Working together with his wife, son and daughter, Princey methodically sets up the body and crime scene so that family friend Captain Smollet (Williams) will take the blame for the murder.

Mary (Thaxter) begs her husband Arthur (Langton) not to go away on a business trip, but he refuses. Mary is alone in the house when Ted Lambert (Grizzard), an escapee from a mental institution, breaks in. The two develop a rapport, and Mary confesses that she is always been afraid except for when she lived with her parents, only her husband no longer wants to live with them. After Ted leaves, Arthur returns home and Mary shoots him. Mary then tells her father on the phone that she can return home now.

Supporting Cast: George Grizzard as Ted Lambert, Billy Nelson as Cab Driver, Norman Willis as Intern, Paul Frees as Mary's Father (uncredited), Carol Veazie as Mrs. Connolly (credited but scenes deleted)

Aware that their friend Rankin's (Emhardt) wife Irene (Williams) is cheating on him, Wally and Bud draw the same conclusion when they find Irene missing and Rankin sealing up a hole in his basement. Wally and Bud confront Rankin, asking which of Irene's lovers he caught her with, but their assumptions were wrong. When Irene returns home, Rankin kills her for real.

Hoping to profit from life insurance fraud, siblings Katherine (Matthews) and Fitzhugh (Cronyn) plan to torch their house and have a homeless man, Jorgy, die in Fitzhugh's place. The plan backfires when, once they have lit the fire, they are unable to put Fitzhugh's identifying ring on Jorgy. The siblings have no choice but to save themselves and Jorgy, and watch the house burn.

Egotistical Seymour Johnston (Hatfield) shoots and kills his rich Aunt Muriel (Dunnock) and pins the blame on "Antonio Battani", a fake persona that he has created using make-up and a wig. Seymour's plan fails because his willful blindness of his own faults means that he no longer "sees" his distinctive facial birthmark, which gives his disguise away.

Albert Birch (Harris) is excited to be reunited with his sweetheart, Edwina (Tandy) after 20 years. Although the reunion is joyful, Edwina has mood swings and refuses to let anyone see her baby nephew, Toby, whom she has brought with her. Eventually it is revealed that Edwina has escaped from a mental asylum, and that Toby is a cat.

Gangster Georgie Minnelli (Philips) kills his known rival, Lucky Moore (Chandler) and sets up an alibi that he was in his apartment the whole day. When the police question Georgie, a delivery boy arrives with a package, revealing that he had tried to deliver the package five times that day because Georgie was not at home.

Mr. Brenner threatens to take sisters Cissie (Stickney) and Joanna (Matthews) to court unless they sell him their home. The domineering Joanna orders Cissie to poison Brenner, but Cissie allows him to live just long enough so that he can kill Joanna before succumbing to the poison, thus leaving Cissie alone with the house.

Company man Mason Bridges (Horton) keeps returning to a high-stakes poker game because he is determined to beat his rich client, Sam Klinker (Middleton). When Mason discovers that his wife has lost all their savings, he steals a portion of Klinker's money from the office to keep playing, intending to return it later. During a crucial hand, Mason thinks he has four queens and bets aggressively, to Klinker's surprise. At the last moment Mason realizes that he had read his cards wrong, but Klinker folds and Mason wins the pot.

Gil (Allen), who had an extremely close relationship with his late father, Jonathan, accuses his stepmother, Rosine (Johnson) of killing him. Gil's investigation uncovers a bottle of poisoned brandy that he had given to Rosine to kill her, except Rosine had guessed that it was poison and gave it to Jonathan, killing him.

Mobster Louis 'King' Koster (Middleton) learns from a private investigator that his wife, Marian, is cheating on him. Koster hires hit man Harry Silver (Silva) to kill her, but Koster is killed instead, because Silver is the man that Marian is having an affair with.

Publisher Alexander Vinton (Williams) suspects that the novel Julia Pickering (Collinge) has written is based on a true story of how Julia's sister, Cordelia, had killed her husband. Vinton encourages Julia to stand up to her dominating sister, eventually drawing out a confession of the murder.

Kooky mystery writer Babs Fenton (Scott) has an overactive imagination and suspects the worst when their new neighbor Charles Blanchard (Lummis) acts strangely around his wife Ellen (Mundy). However, every time that Babs thinks that she has figured out the truth, she is proven wrong.

Harold Skinner (Marlowe) and Vera Brown (Dana), who are having an affair, oust Vera's husband, John (Collins), from his company by getting him declared mentally unfit and sent to a home. When the company tanks, Vera and Harold need help, but are unable to get John discharged.

Newlyweds Ray (McGuire) and Meg (Scott)'s honeymoon is slightly marred by the recent death of his aunt. At their hotel they are harassed by Mr. Moon (Emhardt), who Ray believes is trying to kill them. Ray orders Meg to leave when he hears what sounds like a time bomb, but rushes back for his bag that contains the jewels that were stolen from his aunt. Moon is a police officer, and set up the ruse to trap Ray.

Harry Parker (Jones) agrees to help his pretty neighbor, Miss Elliot (Baxley), hide her murdered boyfriend's body. When the police arrive, the investigation uncovers that Harry's wife (Gregg) was having an affair with the dead man, but Harry killed him over envy of Miss Elliot.

District attorney Martin Ross (Dano) faces a crisis in his campaign for governor when his brother Richard (Townes) kills the competition, Burton Reeves, and threatens to kill Martin's wife, Laura. Martin makes a deal with Tommy, Burton's caddy, to temporarily confess to the murder in order to save Laura's life. Tommy's mother, mistaking Richard for Martin, begs him to release Tommy, and when Richard refuses, she stabs him to death.

White-collar criminal Stephen Fontaine (Redfield) is being transported via train and tries to bribe his escorting police sergeant, Rockwell (Merrill) for his freedom with $50,000. When they reach their final stop and Rockwell still has not accepted, Fontaine grabs for Rockwell's gun and kills him. Fontaine then discovers that the bullet damaged the key in Rockwell's pocket, and he cannot unlock the manacles.

When Carl Borden (Meeker) gets severe indigestion twice due to the home cooking prepared by his wife Annette (Thaxter), their friend Ralph has the food tested and finds a large dose of arsenic in it. Carl is angered at Ralph for insinuating that Annette tried to poisoned him, but Annette later dies from arsenic-laced coffee. Carl's friends deduce that Annette gave Carl the wrong cup of coffee, and help keep the circumstances of her death quiet. The entire scheme was a ruse by Carl to kill Annette, so that he could be with his lover.

Steve Morgan (Torn), a young ruffian, is picked up by the police for his first offense after a failed stick-up at a candy store. At first he is cocky about being arrested, but he slowly cracks under the interrogation and learns that the man he robbed has died.

Insurance investigator Joe Rogers (Forrest) is ordered to re-examine old claims made by Mrs. Gillespie (Cooper), whose previous two husbands died under mysterious circumstances, and is now engaged to a third. Just after Gillespie and her new fiancé Fieldstone, leave for their wedding, Joe discovers that Fieldstone is also being investigated by an insurance company, because he had made claims following the deaths of his four previous wives.

When Marsha Hendricks (Platt) learns that her husband Charles (Bagarey) is cheating on her, she tracks down the home of the other woman, Beryl (Johnson), and puts poison in her sugar. Beryl discovers that her sugar is poisoned, and gives it to Charles when he refuses to leave Marsha for her.

Alcoholic has-been actor Charles Gresham (Rains) tries to blackmail producer Wayne Campbell (Gregory) into casting him in a new play. Campbell gives Gresham the script for a role as a gangster, and advises him to perform it for one of the play's financial backers, Nick Roper. Gresham goes to Roper and performs the monologue, but it turns out to contain details of one of Roper's real crimes, and Roper shoots Gresham. As two of Roper's henchmen take away Gresham's body, Roper learns that Gresham learned about the crime from Wayne Campbell, and it is implied that Roper later killed Campbell.

Inspector Davidson (Williams) and his assistant Detective Raines investigate the murder of Count Victor Mattoni in his London flat. They find a great deal of evidence in the flat, and the investigation uncovers Mattoni's links to Lord Sorrington and American businessman Bernard K. Froy. However, both men separately confess to the murder, confusing Davidson.

Continuing from the previous episode, Inspector Davidson is alarmed when the flat's elevator operator, Mullet, becomes the third person to confess to the murder of Mattoni. All three men are linked to the crime scene by physical evidence, have seemingly sound reasons for killing Mattoni, and are able to describe the murder convincingly.

Concluding the three-episode story, Inspector Davidson arranges so that Sorrington, Froy and Mullet meet each other, and they are joined by Helen (Harris), Mattoni's widow and Sorrington's daughter, who also confesses to the murder. Sorrington, Froy and Mullet are secretly friends and conspired to kill Mattoni together and set up the evidence accordingly; however, Helen killed Mattoni before the others got the chance. Davidson and Raines realize that they will never be able to pinpoint the murderer, so all four will likely end up getting away with it.

After murdering his spouse, Sam Jacoby (Wayne) has trouble disposing of the body. He is stopped by a motorcycle cop because of his faulty tail light, and the cop helpfully detours Jacoby to the nearby police headquarters so that their mechanic can open the trunk and fix it.

Young gangster Manny Coe (York) kills a man by order of his boss, Vince Williams. Williams promises to take Manny as his protege if he kills his girlfriend Betty (Maguire); Manny is unable to do it, but Betty dies in an accident and Manny claims it as a hit. Some time later, Manny has become rich and successful, but he botches a robbery and is killed by Williams' next young protege.

Ernest Findlater (Williams), who has suffered years of verbal abuse by his wife, fantasizes about her death. He invents Lalage (Baxley), an imaginary exotic lover from the South Seas. Lalage encourages him to murder his wife, and Ernest spends weeks preparing every detail to ensure success without discovery. When Ernest finally returns home to commit the deed, he finds that his wife has died of natural causes.

Practical joker Halloran (Stone) convinces homeless man and drunk Johnny (Collins) at the bar that the world will end at 11:45 that night. With nothing to lose, Johnny steals liquor, unwittingly frightens a well-meaning spinster, Felicia Green (Barrett), who was trying to help him, breaks into a sporting goods store to give presents to homeless children (Shearer, Herbert, Miller), and then kills the security guard (Marr) who tries to apprehend him with a gun from the store. When Johnny realizes what Halloran did, he returns to the bar and shoots him at 11:45.

In 1919 London, a serial killer is stalking the streets, killing by strangulation a husband (Gould-Porter) and wife (Plowright), an elderly flower seller (O'Mahoney), and a police officer. The city is filled with fear, and the police, led by Sergeant Ottermole (Bikel), are stumped. A blind man (Hamer) has heard the killer whistle but cannot identify him otherwise. Journalist Summers (Williams) suspects that the killer has to be someone that people take for granted, and helps trap the true killer: Sgt. Ottermole, who claims that his hands are out of his control after trying to strangle Summers.

Precocious little girl Hildegard Fell (Rudie) attaches herself to the grumpy, reclusive newcomer in town, John Anderson (Hardwicke). Hildegard's friend Clarence uncovers John Anderson's identity as a retired judge who had put many criminals away. Thanks to Hildegard's friendship, John opens up to the townspeople and is loved by all for his kindness and generosity. After Anderson's death, Clarence discovers that "John Anderson" was a fake name, and that the man he knew was one of the murderers that the real John Anderson had sentenced to prison.

Mabel McKay (Evelyn) believes that her husband Henry (Emhardt) is in the way of her dreams of glamour, so she kills and buries him in their garden. She sets up a story that Henry left her for another woman; the police investigation reveals that there was indeed another woman, but she has no idea where Henry is. This prompts the police to check Mabel's house, and they discover Henry's body.

Taxidermist George Tiffany (Jones) is distressed when his wife Louise (Dunnock) invites her good-for-nothing brother Waldren into their home. Waldren pretends to be sick, refuses to work, and has Louise waiting on him hand and foot. When Louise succumbs to exhaustion, George kills Waldren and stuffs him inside a horse that is being prepared for the town memorial.

London, 1912. Shop owner Joe Saunders (Gwenn) refuses to give any more money to his spendthrift son, Sam. Sam spies Joe hiding his friend and wanted fugitive, Gus, in the shop cellar; hoping to collect a reward, Sam calls it in to the police. Gus manages to escape after Sam's lady friend, Mae, calls Joe to warn him. Joe is hurt when he learns what Sam did, but Sam still takes the reward money from the police.

Brothers of a Lodge have trouble getting people to buy plots in their cemetery project, which worries their leader, Brother Cato Stone (Middlestone). Brother Harry (Mantell) suggests they ask former member Clarence Weems (Collins), who is elderly and sick, to be their first customer. Weems accepts, but then gets better, having taken the contract as a challenge to rejuvenate his life. After months of Weems not dying, the brothers decide to confront him over the contract, but in the excitement Brother Cato dies of a heart attack. He becomes the first to be buried in their cemetery instead.

Barbie Hallem (Cook) uses her beauty to play with men's hearts. One night she goes up into the mountains to visit her cabin, where Benny Mungo (Morrow) is hiding out, seemingly unaware that he is being hunted by townsfolk for the murder of the woman he loves. Although Barbie believes that Benny has been framed by his brother, Benny declares that the woman he murdered was just like Barbie, and he snaps her neck.

Lawyer Bellefontaine (Harris) and accountant Jones (Salmi) are waiting for their train in the station's isolated waiting room. When they learn that an inmate has escaped from a nearby criminal asylum, both men suspect the other of being said inmate. They are about to attack each other when the real inmate enters the waiting room. They work together to subdue the inmate, taking just enough time before the orderlies arrive to take him into custody.

Jim Whitely (Shatner) tells his cousin a story about how their late extended cousin Julia (Tandy) fell in love with ventriloquist Max Collodi (Conway). Julia was so devoted that she traveled all over the country to watch Collodi's act with his child-sized dummy. After writing many letters, Julia was finally able to meet Collodi in person, but she discovered that "Collodi" was the dummy, and the puppet was the real man, wearing a mask. Julia took with her "Collodi"'s glass eye as a keepsake of her love.

Ordinary clerk Grimes (Marshall) starts receiving letters from a mysterious Christiani that seemingly predict the future. His friend George (Klugman) advises caution, but Grimes starts investing money to great success. For Christiani's last tip, Grimes steals office funds to invest in the stock market, and earns enough to retire comfortably even after returning the office money and paying Christiani's share. Afterward, George investigates Christiani and discovers that he is a con man, and the letters were sent out to thousands of people using different predictions; Grimes just happened to receive a correct series of predictions.

Lawyer John Gregory (Gregory) meets with famous detective Charles Courtney (Price) who prides himself on never being wrong. Gregory has evidence that Courtney convicted the wrong man in a recent case and threatens to expose him. Courtney strangles Gregory to death and uses his body to create a ceramic trophy in tribute of what he considers to be "the perfect crime", but as Hitchcock states in his closing monologue, Courtney was found out and arrested when a cleaning lady accidentally knocked over the trophy and broke it, and bits of gold from a filling in Gregory's teeth helped identify him.

When convicted robber Jackie Blake (Hickman) is released from prison, he is warmly accepted into the home of Martha Collins (Dunnock), mother of Jackie's former cellmate. Jackie has hopes of making a new honest life, but Martha and her other son, Ralph (Persoff), only took Jackie in because they believe that he has the loot from a previous robbery hidden somewhere. Ralph tries to force Jackie to reveal its whereabouts, and Jackie stabs him to death in self-defense. When Jackie tries to defend his actions to Martha, she tells him the truth behind her kindness to him. We last see Martha run screaming for help, and we can presume Jackie was arrested again and returned to prison, whether the self-defense claim he most likely pleaded was accepted or not.

Professor Donald "Bob" Mason (Taylor) strangles his student and mistress, Claudia (Hart), to death when she refuses to end their affair. The only witness is Linda, the baby that Claudia was babysitting at the time. Afterward, every time Linda sees Donald she starts crying, which makes Donald fear that she will identify him once she starts talking. Donald ends up confessing to the police, but it turns out that Linda cries whenever she sees any man, as shown when her father returns from the military.

After finding a cash-laden wallet, street cleaner John Gaminski (Homolka) and his wife Anna (Fleet) constantly fight over Anna's lavish spending of the money. The conflict climaxes when John bludgeons Anna to death with a statuette before drinking the cup of poisoned coffee that Anna had prepared for him.

Ex-con Joe (Hill) and his former partners Madge (Hagen) and Maxie (Brodie) drive to an abandoned mine in the middle of desert in order to collect hidden robbery loot. Once there, the three turn on each other: Joe shoots and kills Maxie, and Madge traps Joe down in the mine once she has obtained the money. This leaves Madge with the loot, but the keys to the car are in the mine with Joe.

While awaiting his execution, inmate Gerry Daniels (Guardino) types a final letter to the newspaper protesting the incompetence of district attorney Bernard Butler (Marlowe). Gerry confesses that he had murdered three other people, but Butler had never suspected him for those incidents; instead Gerry was prosecuted for a murder that he did not commit. The execution is canceled when Butler gets new evidence exonerating Gerry from the incorrect charge, but Gerry's letter is already read for censorship in the warden's office.

Teenager Janice (Lynley) befriends Tex (Edwards), a drifter through town, while being served by the local bartender (Marlowe) to frame him for the murder of her guardian, Aunt Mae (Nolan). However, Jan's boyfriend, Stan (Joyce), found Aunt Mae's body and knows that Jan committed the murder. The sheriff (Lane) arrests her instead.

Married couple Evan (Peppard) and Janet (Scott) are touring Mexico with their aunt Mrs. Tait (Elsom), who dies of a heart attack. While Evan and Janet are searching for a doctor, their car is stolen with Mrs. Tait's corpse in it. After finding no luck with local police Chief Herrera (Verros), they hire detective Thomas Salgado (Lorre) to find the car and, later, the body. When Evan and Janet finally return home, they find Salgado has given them the wrong body.

Plumber Jack Staley (Phillips), who has been blackmailing housewives for fabricated dalliances throughout a suburban neighborhood, sets his sights on new target Margot Brenner (Thaxter) while her husband Lee (Stevens) is away at work. She tries to have him arrested by undercover police Sergeant Thompson, but Jack smells out the attempt and plays dumb. In retaliation, Margot gathers all the wives of the neighborhood to confront Jack together. United, the women blackmail Jack into performing housework for them in the value of the money that he has extorted from them and more.

Emma Paisley (Stickney) is distressed when her neighbor, Rinditch (Graham), kills her pet cat Stanley (Orangey). Emma blacks out and wakes up four hours later, to find that Rinditch has been murdered and their landlord, Bob Jenkins (Tyler), has been arrested. Emma confesses to the police that she did it but is unable to convince them as she cannot explain how she did it. She finally does remember, but the landlord has already been executed.

Warren Selvy (Hingle), a prosecuting attorney with a long history of acquittals, delivers a guilty verdict in a crucial murder case. Afterward Warren is confronted by a homeless man, Ed (Collins), who claims to be the actual murderer. Warren tries to scare him off, but when that fails, Warren tries to grab a clock that Ed attempts to smash, but accidentally hits Ed with it, killing him. Warren then learns that Ed has a history of confessing to crimes that he did not commit.

Successful businessman Eddie Slovak (Nicol) has a good life with his wife, Faye (Mathews), but is haunted by his past. He once acted cowardly in the Korean War and seeks out his old Army buddy Pete Williams (Keefer), who knows his secret. Pete repeatedly rebuffs Eddie's attempts to pay him, to Eddie's frustration. Eddie begins an affair with Pete's wife, Louise (Talbot), and one night Eddie, triggered by a picture of Pete in his Army uniform, loses his mind and strangles her. When Pete comes home, Eddie begs him to tell the police that a prowler was responsible, but Pete refuses, and when the officer (Ford) arrives, he tells them the truth. Eddie is arrested for murder, and this leaves Pete and Faye, who are lovers, to be together.

Tony Gould (Cotten) meets with his mistress, Shelley (White), in his office after hours. When Shelley threatens to expose their relationship to Tony's wife, he stabs her to death but is unable to leave because the office is locked. He attempts to get the key to fall from the lock and slide it under the door, but the key will not fit. Tony calls his friend Charlie (Buffington) to help, but Charlie drunkenly leaves the phone off the hook to go party with his neighbors (Gibbons and Green). The next day, when Tony attempts to communicate with a person in an adjacent building, the police (Logan and Eldredge) are called, and they break into the office. Tony almost escapes, but his drunken friend Charlie arrives and discovers the body in his office restroom.

John Leeds (McIntire) is concerned when his daughter, Sylvia (Todd) purchases a handgun. Sylvia's unscrupulous ex-husband, Peter (Reed), once left her because of money, and he has returned to town at Sylvia's request. John fears that Sylvia wants to kill Peter, so he pays Peter off so that he leaves. Sylvia then shoots and kills John for thwarting her attempt to reunite with Peter.

Crime-obsessed best friends Tommy (Homeier) and Richard (Redfield) discuss Tommy's theory that motiveless murders cannot be solved. In order to prove this theory, Tommy decides to murder a random person that Richard picks out from a phone book. After the murder is done, Tommy discovers that the victim is the man that Tommy's ex-wife had left him for, thus Tommy does have a motive; Richard picked him on purpose for revenge, as Tommy had once stolen the same woman from Richard. They end up in a fight that is interrupted by the police (Clark and Johnson), who arrest Tommy.

Elderly Englishwoman Millicent Bracegirdle (Natwick) talks with husband Dean Septimus (Muir) and friend Mrs. Crump (Denham) of her upcoming trip to France. While traveling in France, she accidentally locks herself in the wrong hotel room with a corpse. She eventually manages to escape and learns that the dead man is an accused murderer who had died of a heart attack.

Wayne Phillips (Erickson) has an affair with Louise Marsh (Crane) to spite her husband Eldon Marsh (Balsam). When Eldon publicly confronts Wayne over this, Eldon loses his wife and his job. With nothing to lose, Eldon challenges the much stronger Wayne to a gun duel. Wayne agrees, but shoots Eldon without warning. When the police investigate, they find that Eldon wasn't carrying a gun, and Wayne is charged with murder.

Gambling-addicted housewife Fran Holland (Sterling) rushes to raise $25 to pay a bookie before her husband Ed (Swenson) comes home. Fran uses various tactics that nearly get her in trouble with the police, but just manages to pay off the debt in time. She promises to never gamble again, but soon after succumbs to temptation and places a new bet.

Sgt. Andre Doniere (Bergerac) is a veteran traveling home with his friend Corp. Marcel Marchand, who saved his life. Doniere makes a phone call to his aristocratic family, asking if they will accommodate his friend, who lost his leg. Doniere's mother, stepfather and fiancée are uninterested in welcoming a cripple, so Doniere decides to never return home, because he is the one who lost his leg.

Waterbury (Emhardt) wants to buy the house owned by elderly Sadie Grimes (Nolan), despite her demanding a price five times the house's worth. Grimes tells Waterbury how her son Michael (Drury) was killed by an unseen figure in that house over stolen loot, and the loot was never found. Grimes put the house on the market to trap the killer, because only the killer would agree to the exorbitant price for the sake of the loot. Waterbury confirms her suspicion, but he soon dies because Grimes has poisoned his drink.

Lucia Clay (Bel Geddes) is haunted by the sound of a foghorn and cannot recall why, though she is comforted by a nun (Howard). She pieces together memories of her falling in love with Allen Bliss (Rennie), a married man. Allen was killed in a boat trip that they took together when a liner crashed into them in the fog. To Lucia this happened only a few days ago, but in actuality 50 years have passed, and she falls dead when she sees herself in the mirror.

While traveling on a plane, war correspondent Ted Franklin (Merrill) strikes up a conversation with fellow passenger Barbara Denim (Cutts). Franklin is under arrest and is traveling with police Inspector Kafir (Welles) on the way home to be tried for a murder. He tells Denim a story of being an innocent newsman trying to get information from a misguided and angry father, Abdul Ismael (Shayne), who lost his son Sasha (George) to execution over stolen jewels. Once he has told her his story, Franklin learns that Denim is a witness who is going to testify against him, as she expertly breaks down his story to reveal that he pursued to grief-stricken father over the jewels after promising to get the son released if paid a portion.

Homicide detective Dennis O'Finn (Morgan) lives next door to a group of elderly women (Corby, Patterson, Moore) who are smitten with him. Miss Hildy-Lou (Winwood) murders two of the other ladies solely so that O'Finn will visit them for the murder investigation. O'Finn, horrified to learn of their motive, transfers to the arson department, only for the remaining ladies to set their house on fire.

Bookie Walter Richmond (Horton) develops a relationship with Laura Gild (von Furstenberg), the widow of former client Herbert Gild (Bailey). Walter discovers that Herbert had faked his death to get away from Laura, and he blackmails him for money. When Herbert confronts the pair with a gun, Walter is shot non-fatally, and Laura absconds from both men with the money.

Pregnant housewife Mary Maloney (Barbara Bel Geddes) bludgeons her husband Patrick (Allan Lane) to death with a frozen leg of lamb when he says that he is going leave her for another woman. Mary sets the scene to look like a struggle and puts the leg of lamb in the oven to cook. When the police (Noonan, Clark, and Keene) arrive to investigate, they are unable to find the murder weapon, and Mary gives them the cooked leg of lamb to eat for supper.

Supporting Cast: Allan Lane as Patrick Maloney, Harold J. Stone as Lieutenant Jack Noonan, Otto Waldis as Sam, Ken Clark as Mike the Policeman Assistant, William Keene as Fingerprint Policeman, Robert C. Ross as Forensic Doctor, Thomas Wilde (credited as Thomas Wild) as Police Photographer

Statistics-obsessed Harold Goames (McGiver) feels unimportant in the world and starts committing crimes in order to become "significant". After committing auto-theft and robbery of a shopkeeper (Booth), he murders his sister Margaret (Nathan) and confesses to the disbelieving police sergeant (Wood) his reasons. For his last statistically significant act, Harold commits suicide.

Norman Frayne (Best) grew up in an orphanage and feels undeserving of his wife Paula (Bard). Al (Brodie), a man from Norman's past, arrives and blackmails Norman over a crime that they committed 12 years earlier. Norman believes that Al is having an affair with Paula and plans to blow them up with dynamite. When Paula insists that it is untrue, Norman lets himself be blown up so that Paula will be free from Al's threats and Norman's past, as is confirmed by the police chief (Gerstle).

On Christmas Eve, attorney John (Ryan) visits the home of his estranged siblings Celia (Mathews) and Charlie Boerum (Waring). John criticizes Celia for keeping the house so dark and dreary. Charlie wants to kill Celia, whom he believes murdered his wife Jessie by tripping her down the stairs on Christmas Eve, but Celia protests her innocence and is determined to care for Charlie regardless of his feelings. John calls Celia out for despising Jessie and pleads with Celia to find a home elsewhere. Charlie has moved back into his childhood bedroom, desiring a place away from where his mother and sister would annoy him. He intimates that he will only leave after he kills Celia; he even threatens to kill Celia after she packs Jessie's belongings away. John leaves after making them promise not to hurt each other, but Celia trips down the stairs as a cord was strung by Charlie across the steps. Charlie blames Celia for being like his controlling and domineering mother, yet Celia claims that Charlie has always desired a strong maternal figure. John has been doing this every Christmas Eve since Charlie's wife's death 20 years ago. All he can do is have a drink with the local bartender Al (Baker) and hope for the best.

Herbert Johnson (Stehli) tries to convince the authorities that the final murder of the Stockings Murders was committed by a copycat, but no one takes him seriously. He tells a police sergeant (Lummis) and lieutenant (Williams), a journalist (Herrman), and a bartender (Barron), but all dismiss him. He even sees a similar appearance in one of the women in the bar, Slats (Loughery), to one of the victims. A priest, Father Rafferty (Lane), finally listens to Herbert's story about how the victim, Helen Jameson, left her controlling, religious parents for a life of "sin", and her death was a "punishment". Herbert is Helen's father, and his wife (Evanson) is the copycat who killed Helen, but Herbert is unable to accuse his wife openly.

Judy Archer (Moore) gets permission from the cemetery clerk (Ates) to exhume her first husband Harry's body because a winning sweepstakes ticket was buried with him. Insurance investigator Wescott (Gregory) takes advantage of this to perform an autopsy on Harry, proving that he was poisoned. Judy's second husband, Steve (Forrest), murdered Harry before marrying Judy so that they could live on Harry's insurance money. Wescott helps Judy catch Steve in a failed act of trying to murder her (by throwing a room heater in the bathtub), and Steve is arrested by a waiting police sergeant (Robbins).

Jack Lyons (Elliott) and Phyllis Chaundry (Court) are married after Jack kills Phyllis' first husband Arthur (Gould-Porter), but Phyllis is unhappy because Jack lost the crocodile dressing case that her late husband was returning to her on the night of his murder. When the police finally find the case, Jack identifies it based on the initials, but that gives away his guilt to Police Inspector Karsiak (Alderson), because the initials were only placed on the case just before the murder.

While traveling on a cruise ship, William Botibol (Wynn) bets heavily in a betting pool on how many miles the ship travels every day, despite the facts that he perennially loses, that he cannot afford to match the stakes set by others such as the wealthy Mr. and Mrs. Renshaw (Bourneuf and Wray), and that his wife Ethel (Platt) begs him to not gamble. The ship enters a heavy storm system and slows considerably, with William getting information that the ship will continue to precede at that rate consistently (and William bets accordingly). When the storm clears and the ship then goes faster than William expected, he decides to jump off the ship to force it to stop. He makes sure that a young woman, Emily (Lang), is there to see him jump, assuming that she will call for help. However, Emily is intellectually disabled and does not react excitedly after he jumps over the railing, leaving her mother (Lloyd) to ignore her.

Bank teller George Piper (Harris) murders one of the bank's dubious clients, Victor Mannett (Pine), to steal his money, which Piper then hides in plain sight inside his teller drawer. The next day, Piper is dressed down by his boss for keeping the Mannett account, as the murder will ruin the bank's reputation. Piper is fired on the spot and ordered to give up his teller drawer keys immediately.

Laura Bowlby (Tandy) arrives in Hong Kong to join her husband, James (Matheson), who has been living there for a while. Laura has psychic abilities; when she is inside her second-hand sedan she can hear the disembodied voice of a French woman talking to her lover, although the driver, Chang (Levy), cannot. Laura, envious of the woman's passionate affair, investigates her story and discovers that she was having an affair with Laura's husband, James.

England, 1916. Solicitor Henry Daw (Cronyn) kills a client, Miss Wilkinson (Lloyd), and buries her under a slab of stone next to the river. A body is found floating in the river a few days later, but Daw refuses to identify it properly, igniting Inspector Charles Tarrant's (Douglas) suspicions. Placed under pressure, Daw confesses to the murder, but it turns out that the body belongs to someone else.

Elderly out-of-work actor Colin Bragner (Marshall) invites playwright Adam Longsworth (Helmore) and his wife Carol (Adams) for dinner. He tells them a story about the love of his life, Lila Gordon (Mayo), who turned him down and died tragically. Adam and Carol are deeply touched by the story, but it turns out to be complete fiction — Colin was showing off his acting skills in the hope of getting work. Adam is impressed and offers him a job on the spot.

Harry Pope (Donald) has been stuck in bed for hours because there is a venomous snake on his stomach. His friend Timber Woods (Corey) calls a doctor but only reaches the assistant (Levy). Timber is flippant about the danger and makes fun of Harry. When Doctor Ganderbay (Moss) arrives, they help Harry stand up and there is no snake to be seen. Timber mocks Harry for his fear, but as soon as the doctor is gone, Timber lies on the bed and gets bitten and killed by the snake which really did exist.

The Templetons (McGuire and Leachman) are on a train with their young son, Johnny (Lazer), who they have trouble controlling. When they get settled in their car, a radio announcement mentions that a mental patient has escaped from an institution. The train generator goes out in a blizzard, and the train conductor (Mulhall) tells them that it will be fifteen minutes or so before they get moving again. The Templetons offer Johnny one silver dollar if he can be quiet for 10 minutes while elderly cowboy Mr. Kilmer (Wills) tells a story. When the train stops, Johnny sees a man outside the window, caught in the blizzard and begging for help, but Johnny cannot speak up, having promised not to. Johnny receives the silver dollar, but he drops it, and attendant Timothy (Crothers) collects and keeps it, despite a slight protest from the bartender (Glenn).

Supporting Cast: Jack Mulhall as Conductor, Roy Glenn as Bartender, Geoffrey Lewis (believed to be the escaped mental patient)

Reporter and practical joker Bradley (Salmi) pulls a prank on easily-confused morgue attendant Pop Henderson (Ates) by pretending to be a corpse and "coming alive". When Pop goes to get a police sergeant to confirm his findings, Bradley sneaks out, leaving Pop embarrassed. Pop is threatened with forced retirement by the police captain (Watts) for falling for the pranks of reporters such as Bradley, Andrews (Coburn), Morgan (Jostyn), and Dave (Kirkwood, Jr.). Bradley goes out to celebrate by heavily drinking and angers a woman named Millie (Carleton), a man named Mike (Benedict), and a bartender (Barron) with his practical jokes, and he is knocked out in a physical dispute with Mike and dumped outside on the street. When Bradley is later brought to the morgue presumed dead (but only actually paralyzed), Pop refuses to believe that Bradley's moaning is real and puts him inside the freezer.

Harry Adams (Kiley) and his wife (Breslin) are traveling on a rural road near a small town when they are waylaid and arrested by crooked police officer named Officer Chandler (Matthau), who is running an extortion racket with the assistance of the local auto mechanic, Charlie Brown (Erdman), and the equally corrupt town judge (Watts) by arresting passing tourists and forcing them to pay large meaningless fines. The Adamses leave after paying the fees, but it turns out that they are undercover agents of the State Commission and have recorded everything on tape for the state and federal authorities to investigate the corrupt town.

Lloyd Ashley (Nielsen) is accused of killing his wife Eve's lover and offers his lawyer Mark Robeson (Sullivan) two million dollars if he can get him an acquittal. Mark succeeds, but as soon as Ashley is released, he shoots Mark for also having an affair with Eve.

Carl (Merill) climbs out a window onto the ledge of a high-rise Chicago hotel as people (Melton, Rennie, and Field) gather and talk, some in horror and others desiring to see death. He is disconsolate over his wife Karen (Montgomery)'s recent death; she committed suicide by overdosing on pills when her lover abandoned her. After some banter and finally with the permission of his lieutenant (Lynch), the patrolman on duty (Richman), joins Carl on the ledge to rescue him, but this turns out to fulfill Carl's plot: this police officer is Steve, Karen's lover; he had recently spurned her precipitating her suicide. Once Carl is secured by a rope lasso, he tells Steve of the plot and who he really is, then pushes Steve off the ledge to his death.

1927. Mild-mannered gun shop owner Cyril T. Jones (Carney) witnesses a murder by a pair of highly-wanted gangsters. Distrustful of the police's ability to protect him, Jones kills the gangsters with a rifle and turns himself in. Police Commissioner Cummings (Westerfield), Lieutenant Flannery (Bray), and the District Attorney (Greco), fearful that their reputation will be ruined by Jones' accomplishment, refuse to arrest him.

At a dinner party, hypnotist Miles Farnham (Helmore) demonstrates his skills on Lucy Pryor (Thaxter). She speaks in old-fashioned English, claims to be "Dora Evans", and kills her husband (Marshal) with a pair of scissors. During the inquest, Farnham insists that Lucy was inhabited by the spirit of Dora Evans, a real woman who killed her husband in 1853. Farnham hypnotizes Lucy to prove this, but during the testimony "Dora" stabs Farnham, killing him. Lucy is set free, and when a journalist questions her if she planned it all, she replies, "Wouldst not thee like to know."

Iris Teleton (Leighton) is threatened with blackmail by her husband Oliver's mistress, Blanche Herbert (Hunt), who wants them to divorce. In retaliation, Iris kills Blanche, hoping to frame Oliver for the murder. However, Iris was seen by a private detective hired by Oliver (Matheson), and he is still planning to divorce Iris for another younger mistress (Austin).

Elderly cowboys Tom Akins (Demarest) and Ben White (Ates) are in danger of being taken away from their desert property by the town council. One night, a criminal (Kellin) barges into their cabin and threatens them with a gun, but the cowboys manage to kill him. A month later, when Sheriff Jeff (Johnson) and Deputy Tex (Lau) arrive to inspect the property, Akins and White proudly show off a lush rosebush, secretly grown using the criminal's body as fertilizer, thus proving the fertility of their land and allowing them to stay.

Mrs. Herman (Merande) has a plan to kill her wealthy but paranoid and eternally cranky uncle Bill Finley (Collins), but she needs a conspirator. She picks former actress Mrs. Fenimore (Astor), who agrees to the plan for a fee. Mrs. Fenimore uses her acting skills to make herself desired by Finley and gains access to his room, where she opens a gas valve to poison him as he sleeps. The next day, after a police detective (Lau) declares the scene to be an accidental death, Mrs. Fenimore reveals to Mrs. Herman that she secretly married Finley before his death, and that she will inherit his fortune instead of Mrs. Herman.

Undertaker Arthur Motherwell (McGiver) is shocked when recently deceased businessman Stanton C. Barryvale (Smith) briefly wakes up in the funeral parlor to demand that his funeral be simple and cheap. After discussing the matter with his wife (Cass), Motherwell decides to follow the instructions of Barryvale's lawyer for a lavish funeral instead.

Mrs. Trotter (Nolan) is unhappy that her daughter Sharon (Provine) is having an affair with married businessman Ben Nelson (Alda). Mrs. Trotter appeals to Ben's wife, Mrs. Nelson (Wray), revealing the affair to her. That night Ben kills his wife and calls Sharon to set his alibi, but Mrs. Trotter takes the phone call and deliberately gives Sharon the wrong information so that Ben will go to jail.

Joe Philips (Maross) is lead engineer on a tunneling project in Mexico, and Bret Johnson (Morris) mysteriously arrives to be his assistant for the project's last six weeks. One night Philips hears a radio newscast about an ongoing manhunt of an engineer who murdered his colleague; this prompts Philips to search through Johnson's things to find his true identity, but he is stopped when Johnson pulls a gun on him. Since there is no way to leave the site for six weeks, the men work together to finish the job, despite their suspicions of each other. The tunnel is completed one day before the deadline, and it is revealed that Philips is the murderer, and Johnson is the police officer who traveled there to arrest him.

Elderly widow Miss Fox (Davis) mistakenly and emphatically accuses her dog walker, Eddie (Congdon), of having robbed her to Sergeant Kirby (Albertson) after Eddie had previously asked her for $500 for his fiancé's operation and she denied him. She learns of her error after a year, during which time Eddie served a wrongful prison sentence and his fiancé died in the hospital. Miss Fox tries to make it up to Eddie after he is released by getting him his job back and gifting him $500, but he strangles her as revenge.

When Jan Manning (Olson) hits financial problems with her dress shop and cannot borrow any more money from bank manager Michael Selwin (Bryan), her friend Mel Reeves (Meeker) offers to burn down the shop so that she can collect the insurance money from the fire. After the shop burns down that very night and employee Evelyn (Storey) suffers third-degree burns as a result, Jan confesses to insurance investigator Frank Voss (Willock) about the plan with her friend Reeves. However, the investigator has found that the fire source was actually Jan's overheated kettle, which was accidentally set for 1:00 AM instead of 1:00 PM. Jan realizes that it truly was an accident, but the investigator does not believe her.

Brad Taylor (Horton) wants to marry his new girlfriend Janice Wright (Meadows), but his other girlfriend, Leslie Lenox (Spain), refuses to let him go. Brad takes Leslie swimming and drowns her in the ocean, but when he returns home he is arrested by Detectives Breslin (Ellis) and Langley (Carlile) for the murder of Janice, whom Leslie had previously stabbed to death (and then returned the knife to Brad at the beach).

1956. Helen Brewster (Bel Geddes) is frustrated that her boyfriend Philip Pryor (Dubbins) has been stalling their wedding for almost five years on the excuses of his serving in the Korean War and that his mother's health is quite precarious. When they finally do get married, Helen learns that Philip's mother has been dead since 1949, but Philip believes that she is still alive due to his insanity.

Elderly Andrew Thurgood (Rains) is let go from a jewelry firm after 37 years of loyal service. On his last day, a very expensive diamond necklace is stolen by a thief (von Furstenberg) who claims to be the wife of noted Doctor Anton Rudell (Bekassy), which is only discovered after real wife Jessica (Lord) arrives. Andrew is "distressed" at the breaking of his perfect record of having no thefts throughout the duration of his employment, but the thief is secretly Andrew's daughter, Thelma, and they worked together to carry out the theft. Thurgood reveals to his daughter that the only other two thefts in the company's history were those committed by Thurgood's father and grandfather; one theft per generation is a family tradition. Thurgood is surprised at his home by his former boss George Maynard (Hewitt) with retirement gifts and, upon meeting Thurgood's daughter, Maynard rewards Thelma with a job to replace the outgoing Thurgood, not knowing that she is the thief in question.

John Manbridge (Elliott), a gambler and financial squanderer, plots to murder his cousin Felix (Thatcher) in the hopes of inheriting his fortune after Felix threatens John with the possible filing of criminal charges of forgery. Felix, who is secretly terminally ill with no more than three months to live, commits suicide by drinking poisoned whiskey. John, ignorant regarding Felix's illness, clubs him with a fire poker, not knowing that Felix was already dead. When John is informed of Felix's plan by the policeman who finds the suicide note, he faints. The police innocently give John some of the poisoned whiskey to revive and calm him, and John unwittingly drinks the poisoned whiskey as well, killing himself.

Burglar "the Cat" (Foy Jr.) breaks into the home of couple Mort (Joslyn) and Jocelyn (Dulo) Barnhardt, who are also business partners and constantly fight about money. Mort offers the Cat $3,500 to kill Jocelyn, but Jocelyn makes a counteroffer of $5,000, so the Cat kills Mort instead.

John Forbes (Meeker), a cheap car salesman, constantly complains about his wife Dorothy's (Fraser) spending habits to his employee and loyal assistant 'Dad' (Collins). One night John runs his wife over with his car and covers up the murder with the help of Dad. While John speaks with the police, Dad sells the car in question to college students for fifty dollars. Dad hopes that John will take care of him to return the favor and presses him for help monetarily while at the carnival, but John instead frames Dad for the murder by planting the headlight in Dad's house.

Inspector Benson (Moore) is tasked with preventing Lady Gwendolyn Avon (Court) from smuggling her emerald necklace out of the country, which would therefore cheat the estate tax requirement. Lady Avon thwarts Benson and his officers at every turn and manages to leave the country without the necklace on her, as the uninsured necklace was "stolen" from the hotel safe where it was kept at her orders (rather than be safely kept in the local bank). Benson and two other police officers follow and frequently search her to seek the necklace's whereabouts. However, Benson and Avon are secretly lovers, and Benson carried the necklace for her the entire time. In the end, Lady Avon is successful at selling the necklace for $250,000, tax-free of course.

Hotel waitress Thelma (Deering) learns that she is in the will of her wealthy regular customer, Sara Mannerheim (Lovsky), who has stopped taking her medicine in expectation of death. Thelma's boyfriend Arthur (Jason) suggests that they speed things up by slow-poisoning Sara with anatine, a leaf extract. After half a year of no change, Thelma strangles Sara to death one night in frustration. At the inquest, it is revealed that Sara's doctor prescribed anatine for her heart condition, and Thelma had been inadvertently keeping her alive.

Miserly Alexander Gifford (Day) decides to kill his wife, Jennifer (Backes), when she starts spending money on herself (after she finds over $33,000 is held in various bank accounts). Alex knows that he cannot commit a violent act of murder himself, so he explores various options, most of which he considers to be too expensive. He visits the county jail to solicit mobster Monk McGinnis (Richards), talks to a hitman (Lambert) (but considers $500 too much money), and talks to a scientist (Essler) regarding poisons (but considers $600 too much for poisoned perfume). He ends up giving her food poisoning (botulism) himself through her ham dinner, which a doctor (Clarke) confirms could be fatal in a large quantity. After she dies, he finds out that it would cost $160 to bury her with a funeral, so he sells her cadaver to a medical university for $75 instead.

London, 1954. Reporter Raymond Houston (Nelson) stays overnight in a London wax museum (in the Murderers' Den section) in order to write an important article ("A Night with Marriner's Murderers"). Raymond is desperate as he owes a sizeable gambling debt and is being threatened with prosecution. Mr. Marriner (Sloane), the chief sculptor of the wax figures, is depressed that the death penalty will soon be outlawed, and therefore he will have no new figures to introduce after that of the murderous barber Bourdette (Ophir). Raymond, who is claustrophobic, hallucinates that one of the wax figures (Bourdette) is alive (and who says that he is the actual murderer and escaped from custody), converses with him, and then has his throat cut by the figure. Raymond is found dead the next morning as the museum staff brings the actual Bourdette wax figure into the den.

Has-been actor Oliver Mathews (Tone) is being blackmailed weekly by Grace Dolan (Astor) for an affair he had with Grace's late daughter Janice. The blackmail scheme has broken Oliver financially, yet Grace continues to push him by threatening to reveal his seductive letters written to Janice. Having had enough, Oliver murders Grace with poisoned alcohol and dumps her body in deep water, an act that is hazily witnessed by a young woman (Lloyd). Oliver's assistant, Miss Hall (Mathews), who is in love with Oliver but has been rebuffed for years, uses her instincts to read Oliver's mood and follows him the night of the murder. Having been so in love with him as to write fan letters and pay others to do the same to boost his ego, she only requests him to have a relationship with her in order to keep her from going to the authorities.

Blackheath, 1903. Former Inspector Brent (Williams) conspires with friends, staff, and Police Major Cook-Finch (Gardiner) to stage a fake haunting in the hopes of scaring John Bedford (Haigh) into confessing to the murder of his aunt, Ms. Ferguson. Brent invites Bedford to attend dinner on the anniversary of the murder as there is supposedly new incriminating evidence to be revealed. Brent arranges for an actress, Mae Thorpe (Plowright), to sneak into the house dressed as Ms. Ferguson and walk past their dinner room when the main course is being served. The plan is successful, and Bedford explosively confesses when he sees the menacing figure of his aunt. After Bedford is arrested by police Sergeant Balton (Dillon), Brent is shocked when he learns that Mae Thorpe was late and missed the dinner entirely.

Irving Randall (Smith) loses his weekly work wages ($96) in a poker game to his unsympathetic boss Smalley (Buffington), whom he previously admired, and then lies to his pregnant wife Frances (Meadows) that he was mugged while going to collect vouchers from his boss' house. Irving reluctantly makes a police report at Frances' insistence and is surprised when the police arrest a teenage boy named Whitey (Martin) as a suspect. Irving hesitantly takes Whitey's money ($92) but feels guilty and conflicted, and he refuses to press charges. He and Whitey separate on amicable terms. The next day, Irving learns that Whitey had mugged Smalley, and the money that he had was Smalley's poker winnings (largely won from Irving). When Smalley requests a few dollars until payday, Irving declines with the excuse that he's a married man.

Arnold Shawn (Keith) is a ruthless defense lawyer (his wife notes that he has the skill to make the innocent seem guilty) who uses his arguing skills to put down his wife Naomi (Dana) and defend his cheating on her. He states that it is because of the vanity of the species, that the girl doesn't mean anything to him, that his wife is just old-fashioned, that his wife is not 25 years old any longer, and that their 10 years together should be enough collateral to overcome his continued dalliance. Naomi attends all of Arnold's court proceedings to watch him destroy and disqualify witnesses and their statements. When Arnold refuses to divorce Naomi as it "clumsy and professionally awkward" and suggests that she seek her own affair, she instead hits him with her car by the courthouse, killing him. The only witness of the "accident" is Henry Babcock (Hansen), a man whose credibility as an eyewitness in court Arnold had just destroyed. Babcock tells the police officer (Maxwell) to take the lady's word for it as it is a legal fact that he is not a competent witness.

Reporter Bill Everett (McQueen) receives a tip from his editor Cargan (McVey) about a man in a local bar with a wild tale. The bartender (Challee) sets up an unofficial interview with a couple of beers to entice the man to participate and loosen him up. Bill interviews the distressed man (Hill) who claims to be an 8-foot-tall incarcerated Martian named Yangan Dall (with 6-fingered hands) residing in the human body of 'Howard Wilcox' (as whom he retains the memories of both Yangan and Howard). Yangan tells Bill how all the other 100 million Martians just vanished one day and he was forced to break out of 'Scar' prison over a period of 3 days to avoid starvation. He took a Martian airplane ('targan') to the ceremonial field north of the capital city ('Ondenel') where he discovered the rotting remains of his people, yet he concluded that it was not caused by the incurable disease 'krill' that had wiped out over 400 million of his people (as that disease causes a Martian body to wither and not rot) or by mass suicide (considered a terrible crime). He then found a mental control machine on a copper platform that transported him to Earth, inside a human body walking down the street. Bill and Yangan travel to 'Howard's' home to pacify his worrying wife (Anderson) with a story about old friends meeting and losing track of time (Yangan is convinced by Bill to lie as 'Howard' as he cannot lie as a Martian). When the kind-hearted Yangan suggests telling everyone his story (starting with wife Elsie, with whom there are no secrets between Howard and she), they go for a walk and Bill kills him (not being able to trust Yangan with the truth, as his IQ of 20 is only roughly around that of an average human). Bill, editor Cargan, and even bartender Barney are also Martians, but part of an invasion force trying to take over Earth.^[4]

Norman Logan (York) has for months been pestering William Tritt (Coolidge), a banker, to return $200 that Tritt mistakenly took from Logan's account, but to no avail. Logan sends Tritt notes and hounds him at his residence. Frustrated, Logan carries out a series of pranks (he buys a toy gun and orders Tritt to get him $10,000 and then hides the gun in a drawer on multiple occasions) to make Tritt lose his credibility at the bank. He comes into the bank every day and whistles Christmas tunes to tear at Tritt's nerves. Logan's final act is to actually rob the bank of $10,000, which Tritt is blamed for. Afterward, Logan returns the money in Tritt's name, except for $200 to replace the money that Tritt took from him.

Mrs. Cannon-Hughes (Greer) visits a lawyer, Paul Brett (Webber), to tell him of her suspicions that her husband Gilbert Hughes (Smith) murdered his first wife. She had been nurse to his wife, who she felt disliked her and soon died under her care. Afterward, Gilbert asked her out and they began dating. After they married and went on honeymoon, Cannon-Hughes reported that Gilbert acted out giving his wife a fatal dose of medicine while sleepwalking. She states that he watches her at all times. Soon afterward, Gilbert dies, supposedly of suicide due to an unbalanced mind. Ms. Cannon-Hughes and Brett begin a relationship and get married, but when Brett accidentally discovers that Ms. Cannon-Hughes killed both Gilbert and his first wife (by her talking in her sleep about giving an extra dose of medicine), Mrs. Cannon-Hughes-Brett kills him as well after hearing recordings of her new husband's findings.

Bill Fleming (Douglas), former professional prizefighter, is upset that his wife, Laura, is cheating on him with a man named Baxter. Bill's new friend, Phil (Morse), points out a Californian law on duels that could work in his favor (as "an affair of honor"), and Phil offers to act as his attorney in order to obtain an acquittal. Bill challenges Baxter to a duel (on Phil's urging) and kills him in his home and in front of his wife. Bill goes to the police station and confesses to his police officer friend. Bill is acquitted but has to pay a hefty allowance ($100,000 up front plus extra per month for life) to Baxter's only child for life. Bill then learns that Phil is Baxter's son (Phillip Baxter, Jr.) and is also Laura's lover; Phil and Laura plotted together to gain Bill's money and get Baxter out of the way.

At a dinner party, Albert Martin (Hewitt) confronts his close friend Virginia Pond (Moore), who is having an affair with her ex Cam (Walker). Her suspicious husband, Joseph Pond (Merrill), offers to host any guest that his wife might desire to invite to dinner, so Virginia invites Albert. Albert fears that Virginia is going to be harmed or killed by her jealous husband Joseph due to her affair with her ex, and indeed Virginia is knocked out by a falling scaffolding plank that night while strolling with Albert. Joseph says it must have been an accident caused by the wind, but Albert realizes that there was no wind that night. A container of arsenic also mysteriously disappeared, with Joseph falling ill with symptoms of arsenic poisoning (which Albert believes was accidental in Joseph's planning to kill Virginia). Albert goes on a beach fishing trip with Joseph to warn him off, but Joseph confronts Albert first, revealing that he is an expert 'accident man' who meant for the plank to kill Albert. Joseph admits that Albert has been poisoned through his coffee (as Joseph has built up a tolerance to arsenic). As Albert is dying, he weeps and tells Joseph that he has the wrong man, admitting that it was Cam who made Joseph a cuckold instead.

Chicken farmer Arthur Williams (Harvey) delightfully narrates his personal tale of murder, both of chickens and his ex-fiancée Helen (Court). Helen desires to see the world, where as Arthur wants to stay close to his chicken farm. Helen once saw the farm as a haven but came to see it as restrictive to her desires. Arthur strangles Helen to death when she returns to him a year after leaving him for another wealthy man named Stanley Braithwaite. In her absence, Arthur had grown accustomed to his lifestyle (with no staff and no spouse) and desires no changes. Sergeant John Theron (Macnee) investigates Arthur but is unable to find the body because Arthur has ground it up in his hammer mill into chicken feed.

Mountaineer Mark Cavendish (Donald) and a man (Beregi, Jr.) argue about whether or not two men could have climbed the southern face of a dangerous mountain in horrendous weather, as the man claims to have seen them through a telescope. Mark takes the responsibility of telling the fallen mountaineer's wife, Stella Ballister (Owens), of his likely death and immediately falls in love with her. Stella is devoted to her late husband Michael, who died on the mountain (by falling into a glacier), and she refuses to move on until she personally sees his body. Michael's partner, Mr. Ranks (Klemperer), blames himself while telling the story of his death, saying that they brought too little food for such inexperienced climbers. Mark attempts to romance Stella, even purchasing a ring and professing his love, but Stella rebuffs him. After 40 years they finally find the body, but there is a locket on Michael's body with a picture of another woman, countering Stella's long held belief that they had the perfect marriage.

Seventeen-year-old David Logan (Kimbrough) wakes up from a nightmare and prepares to head out onto the town as his mother (Douglass) begs him to stay home. He spends a night on the town getting a shoeshine, drinking alcohol while underage, and talking to various sympathetic people: a blonde in a bar (Crane), a sailor (Gulager), and an Irish pub patron (McClory), all of whom are disconcerted by David's virulent hatred of his Irish piano-playing father from Dublin. He relates (to the blonde in the bar) coming home from school at the age of 12 to his perpetual cigar-smoking father being with a blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman. He then gets into a brief confrontation with the cigar-smoking sailor before they walk the town and share stories of those they hate. Finally, he stops to drink in an Irish bar, where a patron (McClory) convinces the bartender (Rhoads) to look the other way, as he lacks a draft card. However, David's father is a serial killer who killed his blonde girlfriend for cheating on him, and his execution is that night at 11:00 PM. David finally smashes a television in despair as news is aired revealing his father's death.

While driving across the desert from Texas to California, an associate professor (Carey) arrives at a service station with a baby coyote found injured on the highway. The mechanic (Lambert) laughs that he would want a veterinarian for a coyote but agrees to seek help, to no avail; the coyote escapes anyway. The professor agrees to take on a hitchhiker Julie (Wilcox). However, Julie brings along her father, Pops (Buchanan) and her "brother" Harry (Lau), but he quickly notices that Pops has sold off his 2 good tires, taken his cigarettes, and continually told lies (such as Julie being pregnant and Harry working at Sentinel Mesa). After attempting to leave the trio at an abandoned station, the three of them take the Professor's belongings and commandeer his vehicle. The Professor tricks them into abandoning him and his car by pretending it is out of gas and follows them (after they hitch another ride) to a Scorpion Springs gas station, where he calls the police and reports them. The Professor steals another car and picks them up, purposefully flooding the car's engine and pretending to be ill so they won't recognize him. An El Paso policeman (Henderson) arrives just in time to catch the trio in the stolen vehicle and arrest them. The professor then takes back his belongings and sneaks away unnoticed.

Millionaire Dave Rainey (Keith) is paralyzed from the neck down and needs a respirator (iron lung) to breathe. He reminisces about his pre-paralytic life and being around boats, which he loves to watch. He accuses his wife Cindy (Moore) of having an affair with her new friend, Arnold (Wexler), and that they are planning to kill him; Cindy admits that they are both true. They discuss how they both suffer from his circumstances and Cindy explains that she couldn't divorce him because of appearances. That night, Arnold drowns Cindy in the ocean, because he is a contract killer hired by Dave. Dave can then have some enjoyment of his $6,000,000 fortune.

Floridian Hermie Jenkins (Morgan) regrets marrying his animal-loving wife Myra (Baxley) and admires the bachelor life of his widow neighbor George (Coogan), who has spent the last 9 years fishing and drinking beer (since his wife's death from pneumonia in Kansas City). Even Myra's pet parrot insults him as a slob, and Myra only allows Hermie a small allowance and one beer. Hermie talks Myra into adopting a snake from herpetologist Hansel Eidelpfeiffer (Pollard) that he says would otherwise be killed, even though Myra dislikes snakes. Hermie pretends to be a professor to deceivingly buy a coral snake for Myra for $10, in the hopes that it will bite and kill her. He gives her the snake as a 15-year anniversary gift. The snake, which is actually a harmless kingsnake, bites Hermie instead and he collapses, with the doctor (Field) afterward saying that he died of a heart attack. Myra decides to sell all the animals and go on vacations, which Hermie always desired.

Young gangster Art (Vaughn) is ordered by his new boss Barberosa (White) to prove himself and earn a promotion by delivering $10,000 and then killing the recipient named Moran (Matthau). Art goes to do the deed, but Moran holds Art at gunpoint (in his cellar) in order to get his money. With Moran now relaxed, the two men share a drink as Moran denigrates Barberosa's methods and lauds Art's guts and ambition. Moran suggests that Art kill Barberosa instead and offers money (initially $5000, but Art presses for $10,000) to help Moran take over the organization, with Art then serving as a "right-hand man". When Art agrees, Moran kills him; the counteroffer was a test set by Barberosa and Art's gun was empty.

In the advanced future of July 1980, life expectancy has improved dramatically, with people regularly living to be 125 years old. J.J. Bunce (York) works for the Society of Gerology (the social problems arising from advanced age), which provides the discreet service of killing the healthy elderly (the Blessington Method, named after company founder Albert Blessington). He first kills a 92-year-old fisherman (Burns) by pushing him off a dock. He then visits Jersey resident John Treadwell (Jones), who works in an office so obsessed with health that the secretary (Edwards) doesn't even speak (rather she communicates through pre-recorded statements). Treadwell, a man in his 50s, agrees to have his tiresome and infirmed 82-year-old mother-in-law (Patterson) "dealt with" as she is likely to live to another forty-plus years. She constantly enjoys causing a ruckus and making noise (which annoys his wife (Windust) and children as well), saying that being quiet is for the grave. Bunce kills the old woman by pushing her wheelchair off a dock on a Sunday morning while the family attends church (as it is a law that all must attend church unless in possession of a health certificate, although John illegally goes fishing). Treadwell then realizes that it is only a matter of time before his own children, son Jack (Meadows) and daughter Jill (Kilgas), have him "dealt with" as well, as is implied by Bunce.

Advertising executive Courtney Masterson (Cotten) and his secret lover Peg (Adams) are robbed in Lover's Lane by a thug, Rudy Stickney (Gordon). When Peg flees, Courtney knocks Rudy to the ground, taking his gun and locking him in the trunk. Unwilling to go to the police, Courtney and Peg discuss what to do while driving around. Courtney drops Peg off to protect her and kills the thug so that he will not reveal their affair. Courtney then goes to the police and gives a false story of picking up a hitchhiker and then having a struggle in which he kills in self-defense. Police Inspector Silva (de Corsia) informs Courtney of the thug's name and violent background. When he goes to the office the next day, Courtney's personal assistant Mary (Bonney) informs him that a detective is waiting in his office. Instead of a police detective, it is a private detective (Stroud) that has been hired by Courtney's wife (Greene) to follow him for the previous 5 days. This detective saw everything, drops the thug's recovered knife on the table, and states that it would be mutually profitable if they discussed the matter before he files his report with the wife or police.

Tom Fortnam (Lazer), like many boys all over the country, is excitedly buying mail-order mushrooms to grow in his home's cellar. Bill Fortnam (Dunne) discusses with his neighbor Roger (Maxwell) the concept of intuition and how people are starting to disappear. Bill and his wife Cynthia Fortnam (Straight) are worried when Roger mysteriously disappears after warning them that something catastrophic is going to happen. Roger's wife Dorothy (Whitney) begs Bill to find Roger. Bill and Cynthia get a telegram (from Roger) urging them not to accept any special deliveries. Bill then gets a call from police, who says that Roger willfully and cheerfully was found taking a train to New Orleans. Bill posits an alien invasion by space spores that grow into mushrooms and possess human bodies after being eaten. This is confirmed when Tom acts strangely by ordering the lights to be kept off for the mushrooms and then demanding that Bill eat some of his mail-order mushrooms (which he then does, seemingly under mental manipulation by Tom).

Sam Pine (Massey) and his elder sons, Clay (Chamberlain) and Sam Jr. (Weston), rush to get his youngest son, Davey (Easton), to a doctor after being gored by a bull. They are deliberately blocked on the road by inconsiderate, selfish, uncaring salesman Ed Fratus (Emhardt), who had even previously smashed a child's (Hale) toy for the sheer joy of doing so. Fratus purposefully runs the Pine truck off the road and Davey dies as the truck gets stuck in the mud. A doctor (Wynn) even tells Sam that Davey would have lived if they had gotten him there in time. After getting information on the driver from local merchant Ben Tulip (Teal) and waiting a month for the return of Fratus, Sam and his sons sabotage Fratus' automobile to run out of gas so that they can force Fratus to seek their help. Sam escorts Fratus to his home to fill up Fratus' gas tank. While waiting, Sam confronts Fratus with the death of his son and Fratus' culpability. Sam insinuates that he has poisoned Fratus with tainted alcohol and Fratus rushes to the doctor. However, one of Sam's sons performs exactly as Fratus had acted on the day of Davey's death by blocking the road, and in his panic Fratus crashes his car and dies. As revealed, the drink was indeed just water, not poison.

Mr. Laffler (Morley) introduces his colleague Mr. Costain (Haigh) to Spirro's, an exclusive gentleman's club. He introduces him to various members, such as Lum Hung Fo (Komai) and Henlein (Wagenheim), but he is dismayed to discover that a member has resigned (leaving only 39 full members). The Specialty of the House is a rare but popular lamb dish, and all visitors eat the same meal as there are no menus. Laffler outlines the club obsessiveness with the lamb and states his determined intent to become a full member. The owner Spirro (Spivy), who also prepares the lamb, introduces herself and invites Costain to attend anytime. Laffler is jealous and attempts to keep Costain from joining him, but Spirro invites him in. Laffler loses his jealousy after being told he is being inducted as the newest full member and turns over control of the office to Costain when he is sent on a business trip. Costain happily tells the secretary, Mrs. Inkel (Ackerman), that he will be occupying the head office. Laffler returns for another meal only to discover a member, Paul (Keymas), being assaulted in the alleyway outside the entrance to the club. When Laffler is about to leave the country for a business trip, he is invited by Spirro, the owner, into the kitchen to meet the chef (Turnbull). Afterward, Spirro tells the other members that the Specialty of the House will be served soon while smiling at the picture of Laffler, now hung with the other "absent" members.

1862, during the American Civil War. Recently-widowed Confederate Peyton Farquhar (Howard) decides, after discussing current circumstances with his housekeeper slave Hattie (Goodwin) and friend Jeff (a Confederate officer) (Tobey), to blow up a bridge that the Yankees plan to use to cross, but he is caught by a Union sergeant (Coburn). Peyton is hanged, but the rope breaks and he seemingly escapes. With the help of slave Josh (Hernandez), who perpetually-sings despite Peyton's fearful mood, Peyton travels past various Union soldiers safely and returns home to his wife Melissa. Right before the two can embrace, however, Peyton collapses with a sharp pain to his neck. Peyton is actually dead; he never escaped from the hanging. The doomed man imagined the whole escape.

Laura Siddons (Hiller) is hired by her old friend Dorothy (Bromley) to be a European literature instructor and homeroom counselor at a girl's college after Siddons writes a letter to her out of desperation (from losing her remaining relatives). Laura becomes quite fond of her brightest student, Gloria Barnes (Perreau), while being annoyed by perpetually-late Vera Carson (Lloyd). While out with her talkative neighbor Ben Prowdy (Harris) and searching for a collection of the works of Mary Shelley, Siddons sees Barnes with a man outside of a nightclub. After dozing in class the next day, Barnes claims that she was up all night looking after her sick mother. Siddons sees the pair again the next night, a Friday, and assumes that they are having an affair, so she gets Prowdy to drive her around following them and then leaves a note under the man's door. The next day, Barnes goes to Siddon's home to protest her intrusion, while Siddons defends her involvement as protecting a bright student. Barnes tells Siddons that she is actually secretly married to the man and plans to tell her parents at the right time, and Siddons agrees to keep the secret. On Monday, however, Siddons gets an 'open note' in class from Barnes about Prowdy blackmailing Barnes' parents for $20,000, and her students walk out in protest. The blackmail caused her mother to collapse. Prowdy is arrested and accuses Siddons of masterminding the blackmail.

In Las Vegas, a gambler (McQueen) and a woman (Adams) are approached by Carlos (Lorre), who proposes a bet on whether Gambler's lighter can light up ten times in a row. If Gambler wins, he gets Carlos' convertible; if Gambler loses, Carlos will cut off Gambler's small finger. The lighter works seven times in a row when Carlos's wife interrupts, revealing that Carlos is penniless. Carlos's entire fortune belongs to his wife, who lost three fingers to win it from him.

Supporting Cast: Tyler McVey as Referee, Katherine Squire as Carlos' Wife, Marc Cavell as Bellhop, Phil Gordon as Bartender

Antiques dealer Carpius (Homolka) and assistant Paul (Janti) discuss business while he presents an antique sapphire necklace to a disinterested and bored younger love interest, Malvira (De Metz). Major Parslow (Gould-Porter) and Mr. Chiringirian (Longman) visit wanting a special icon for purchase. Malvira details her desire to leave and says she would rather accept death (than stay) when Carpius threatens her. A monk, Brother Theodorus (Greene), arrives at the shop to sell an item and explains how there is a nearby splinter monastery with valuables, such as the Ikon of Elijah. Carpius visits the monastery in order to steal the valuable icon. He pretends to desire to pray at the icon by lying to the Abbot (Jaffe) and Brother Constantin (Richards). Carpius kills the monk, Brother Damianos (Catania), who is guarding the icon when he is caught stealing it during the monk's rest, claiming it is an accident. The abbot forgives him but says that he must stay with the icon for the rest of his life, praying for absolution.

When Jeff Jensen (Persoff) is non-fatally attacked by his wife, Marie (Williams), he assumes that Marie is suffering from tropical fever that affects the brain. Native manservant Luiz (Strong) offers to stab and kill her, but Jeff says no. When he confronts Marie, she laughs instead of crying, so he requests servant Chita (Burton) to watch over her. Jeff arranges for his friend Mike (Richman), an oilman, and Luiz to take Marie downriver to a shrink. Mike and Marie are having an affair and attempt to kill Luiz while resting at night on the journey; Luiz kills Mike and follows Jeff's orders to the letter by sending Marie to a native "head doctor" who shrinks her head.

Phil Canby (Tully) is accused of murdering Matt Thompson during an argument over 59-year-old Canby's romantic relationship with Matt's 19-year-old daughter Sue (Love). Sheriff Andy Willetts (Baxter) and chemist Saul (Maxwell) discuss the likelihood of a fair trial while a local boy (Erickson) inquiries about a hanging. The murder weapon is a wrench, and both the weapon and murder scene were cleaned immaculately with laundry soap. Sheriff Andy confronts supposed witness Mrs. Lyons (Converse), a neighbor who heard crying but who Sheriff Andy believes is jealous from Canby's refusal to propose marriage. Canby's alibi is that he was babysitting his calm grandson, but Lyons insists that she heard the grandson hysterically crying around the time of the murder. Canby's daughter Betty (Welles) adamantly defends him, and Sue's story is that she fled when an argument with her father started. Canby details when he fell in love with Sue the previous Spring, as he finally saw her as a woman. Sheriff Andy and authority Mr. Harris (Bailey) argue over publicly releasing details of the case. After the funeral, presided over by the town minister (Jackson), Betty argues with both Sheriff Andy and her father Canby, as husband John (Carlile) attempts to hold her back. When Canby is arrested, Sue has a manic fit and begins crying, revealing that she in fact is the one who killed her father.

The episode opens detailing modern policing techniques, with a focus on fingerprint matching. Captain Ellison (Freed) reports a notable suspect on a new case, that of Milton Potter (Hartman), and describes a past case involving the man. Mr. Newton (Whitehead) discusses with his boss, John B. Halverson (Holmes), about how Potter's books don't match. Captain Ernest Fisher (Bray) is called in to investigate at the firm and inquire about Potter's personal details, which are lacking due to his mild-mannered discretion. Potter steals $200,000 from his place of work and surrenders to Police Sergeant Carmody (Alper). Potter tells Fisher and Lieutenant Hogan (Ellis) about how he had to steal the money after planning the theft for so long, but he refuses to disclose where the money is hidden. After 13 years working the prison library as a model prisoner who read every book on traveling, Potter is released and returns the money to Fisher, ending his parole. However, Potter has earned $154,862.25 from investing the stolen money, and he uses the profits to travel the world in luxury aboard cruise ships, while making new friends (Manson).

Young best friends Iggy (Gordon) and Clete (Walken) get into trouble looking into a mobster's car by owner Mr. Rose (Patrick) and his associate Joe (Landers). Iggy dreams of having the best golf clubs in New York, as his father (Elliot) enjoys playing after driving a bus. Clete's father works at a bank and reads all the time, and he is moving in a couple of days. While searching for golf balls to pawn (at a golf course), they witness Mr. Rose and Joe beating up a frightened man (Fresco) regarding bootlegging. Iggy insists on reporting the incident to a police Desk Sergeant (Hoyt) and patrolman (Gilman), but he is heartbroken when the police refuse to take him seriously and his father is too frightened to stand up for him. Rose gives Iggy $10 to give him a taste of the life, and he offers work running errands. Iggy changes his allegiance from his father to Rose. Thirty-five years later, Iggy has become a mobster himself, and Clete (Craven) sees a newspaper article of his death by gunshot (which was shown at the outset and end of the episode).

On a road trip to Allendale, Charles Underhill (McIntire) scolds his niece Anne (Pleshette) for willingly riding with a car thief whom she hardly knows. When Underhill stops for cigarettes, an old lady backs into his car and drives away. Teenage hitchhiker Len (Morse) unsticks his car horn, so they agree to give him a ride towards San Francisco. Underhill learns that Len is a juvenile delinquent (pickpocket) from an 'honor farm' and initially kicks him out, but then he agrees to keep his word. On the way, Len outlines the difference in thinking of an 'insider' versus that of an 'outsider' and talks about his 'insider' knifehandling friend who quotes Dylan Thomas. When they stop at a diner, the kids dance while Underhill attempts to use the proprietor's (Burns) phone to call the sheriff (Len interrupts him). Underhill eventually comes to believe that Len is going to hurt him (as Len defends Anne's right of choice regarding her future), so he speeds to get the attention of a police officer (Morgan). Underhill claims that Len threatened him with a knife, but Len is revealed to be unarmed, and Underhill receives a ticket instead (and is also threatened with 10 days in jail). Underhill is distressed at destroying his crime-free record, but Len pickpockets the officer's book, saving him. Underhill then invites Len to continue traveling with them.

Wealth seeker Judy (Stevens) narrates her desire to be rich, and she sees her path to that goal by marrying the heir to the Craig family fortune. Thomas Craig (Van Dyke) is disappointed when the estate attorney (Holland) says that his late uncle, Wilbur Orville Craig, leaves his fortune to his two-year-old dog Casper, although Craig did leave some money to his loyal housekeeper (Sessions). Thomas was left only $1 but stands to inherit everything after the dog dies. Loyal butler Sam Loomis (Tyler), rather than Thomas, is chosen to shepherd the wealth for Casper. Thomas' girlfriend Judy tries to have Casper killed but fails repeatedly. Thomas tries to shoot Casper in a "hunting accident" but is interrupted by a hunter (Manson) and Casper's adorable nature. Judy hires private detective Vincent Noonan (Stewart) to kill Casper for the fee of $1000, plus expenses, but the death must appear to be accidental. Noonan accidentally sickens himself after he pours poison on the filet steak that he thinks will go to Casper but that goes to him instead. Noonan tries to kill him in a boat, but the dog saves his life, leaving him a loyal defender of Casper. Judy concludes that the only way to get the Craig fortune is to marry Casper herself, so she confides in a psychiatrist (Roberts) that she has decided to become a dog herself.

Writer Steven (McGuire) is interrupted by a soaking-wet new actress, Lois (Welles), who fell into the nearby ocean and desires a blanket. Twenty-three-year-old Hollywood PR man Jimmy Dolan (Baker) enters raving over a conversation he had with a studio boss about exploiting the death of aged alcoholic movie star Betsy Blake (Totter) from a boat accident in order to create a massive publicity campaign (comparable to that of Rudolph Valentino's death) and advance his career. Jimmy pays Steven $300 to write a screenplay regarding the incident and her life. Alfredo (Ragan) stops by to share "love secrets from beyond the grave" to help the script. However, three months later (on the eve of the release), Betsy returns, alive and ready to take advantage of her new "legend". Betsy reveals that the incident was planned both to give her a vacation break and build up her image. Jimmy, distraught at having his success overshadowed, kills her by pushing her from a balcony down to the beach during an argument. Jimmy goes to Steven and offers $5000 to help him cover it up, but Steven calls the police. It is then revealed that Betsy was Jimmy's mother.

Miners Hutch (Hoyt) and Pete (Ragan) argue about paying for drinks while the saloonkeeper (Armstrong) works to keep the peace. Newcomers Jamie (Johnson) and Ben McMahon (Morgan) have civilized the unruly community of Copperpocket and gained everyone's respect, so they end up resolving the dispute with their "brotherly love". They even manage to help a slot machine player (Christi) strike it rich. Strong miners, such as Swede (Cooper), compete to lift an anvil, but Ben and Jaime are the only ones who can do it. One night a mysterious man (Lloyd) appears and is told the story of the brothers by the saloonkeeper. The man calls the brothers cowards due to their relying upon scripture and challenges them to fight him. He shows seemingly demonic powers to prevent the brothers from striking him and then takes everyone's money, including that of the saloonkeeper's, totaling $30,000. The saloonkeeper and piano player (Ates) believe that the man was the devil himself. However, it was all a confidence scheme performed by the man and the brothers together, and they each pocket $10,000. They then decide to go to Silverwheel, Nevada to continue their scam.

John Crane (Shatner) narrates from a courtroom how he ultimately committed a murder while a court clerk (Elson) outlines the details of the case. John flashes back to when he met his German lover Lottie (Scala) while buying a gift for his mother Claire (Landis). Lottie leads him on a walk to a secluded waterfall where she discusses her childhood and losing her parents, while John mentions how he lost his father but was left financially well off. The two of them dance (she cures his phobia regarding dancing) and discuss marriage, but John flees when he realizes that he has not contacted his mother (who is waiting for him). Claire goes to see Lottie at her job and questions whether Lottie is trying to wed to obtain American citizenship, but she does not reveal her identity as John's mother. He has an unnaturally close relationship with his mother (by calling her 'Claire' instead of mother and mentioning her constantly, for example), which worries Lottie when they later meet for tea. Lottie suggests taking Claire to their favorite spot by a waterfall to tell her of their intent to marry. However, John believes that this as Lottie's suggestion that they should kill Claire, and John pushes Lottie off the cliff instead. The inquest board chairman (Carson) rules that Lottie's death was accidental.

Ida Blythe (Straight) and her daughter Dorothy (Hitchcock) travel out to a family cottage one year after the death of Ida's husband from a heart attack. They stop at the local general store to speak with storekeeper Burt (Beddoe), who informs them of an escaped mental patient from the local institution. Ida is staying alone at her cottage, despite Dorothy protesting, to clean while waiting for an acquaintance to visit. While obtaining firewood during a storm, a woman named Madeleine (Spain) sneaks into Ida's cottage, claiming that she was followed by the patient while out hiking. Madeleine's rambling about psychologists and incessant desire to be alone to paint scares Ida, as well as Madeleine's comparison of Ida to her aunt, whom she says is filled with hate (which is triggered by the sounds of the cuckoo clock). When a man (Buka) knocks on the door to tell her about the female runaway patient, Ida opens the door and shoves Madeleine to the ground, knocking her unconscious. However, the man is the real patient, and he goes insane at the sound of the cuckoo clock, smashing it on the ground.

Private investigator William Tyre (Franciscus) narrates being hired (for $50 per day, plus expenses) by Munro Dean (Mitchell) to lure a bookstore worker named Otto (Weston) to a hotel room so that Dean can meet him and confirm his identity. Dean believes that Otto killed his wife in 1948, and he wants revenge. Tyre goes to the bookstore and spies as Otto fights with a disgruntled customer (Kelljan) over the quality of Paris postcards. Tyre then greets and convinces Otto to meet with him in private by discussing shared musical interests, but Otto invites Tyre to his home instead. When he meets afterward with Dean, Dean tries to give him a revolver and pleads with Tyre to kill Otto for thousands of dollars, but Tyre demurs. Tyre visits Otto's home and listens to music with Otto's girlfriend Gloria (McQuade), and then he convinces Otto to go to Dean's hotel room in order to purchase Otto's 200-plus record collection for $250. Tyre follows through but has a change of heart and goes to the room just as Dean and Otto shoot each other. While dying, Otto admits to Tyre that he killed Dean's wife, but that he was hired by Dean to do it. Dean has been trying to kill him ever since because of the nightmares he has had.

Sir Richard Musgrave (Portman) takes a cruise to South Africa with his wife (Tedrow) and daughter while being photographed and interviewed (Lupino). He believes that he sees a former business partner, Jan Vander Klaue (Homolka), and inquires with the bartender (Bernard) as to the man's identity. Sir Richard meets with fellow businesspeople Janet Boswell (Windust) and Henry Caldwell (Robinson), as well as the ship's purser (Clanton), while working to get closer to the man in question, for whom he leaves a note to meet him urgently. Sir Richard thought that he had killed Vander Klaue years ago, and he receives an October 1939 South African newspaper clipping of Vander Klaue's supposed death slid under his cabin door. Sir Richard inquires with the steward (Harvey) about Keyser's communications and finally confronts him on the deck alone. Sir Richard explains what happened from his viewpoint and offers to pay Keyser to keep him quiet (as he has made millions from their investments) so that he can earn a peerage the next year. Keyser goes to Sir Richard's cabin and tells him the story of a prospector (Vander Klaue) with 75 British pounds for his wife's operation. When the money was lost in the fight with an English partner (Sir Richard), the wife died. Upon learning that he was also responsible for the death of Jan's wife, Sir Richard jumps overboard. Jan seemingly tries to save Sir Richard, but in actuality drowns him, though he is afterward hailed as a hero for his "attempt" by the ship's captain (Livesey).

Supporting Cast: Irene Tedrow as Lady Musgrave, Bartlett Robinson as Henry Caldwell, Irene Windust as Janet Boswell, Ralph Clanton as Ship's Purser, Jack Livesey as Ship's Captain, Richard Lupino as Press Photographer, Barry Bernard as Bartender, Barry Harvey as Steward (uncredited)

Charles 'Charlie' Cavender (Weaver), a World War II air veteran, suffers from insomnia, caused by his fear of his brother-in-law and fellow veteran, John 'Jack' Fletcher (Ragin). Charlie's wife Linda was killed in a house fire and her brother, Jack, believes that Charlie let her die. Charlie visits Doctor Tebaldi (Millhollin) and chats with his receptionist (Lord) before discussing the nature of his problem, as he can only sleep for an hour or so at a time and has lost several jobs recently following his wife's death. He outlines the nightmare that he has repeatedly about the house fire, and then he details the events of the actual fire and how he escaped. He admits to his fear of Jack and how the insomnia actually began after Jack left Dover Veterans' Hospital. That night, Jack calls Charlie and implies threats. The next day, Charlie is fired by his boss Mr. Turney (Hodge). Charlie calls the veteran's hospital to get Jack's apartment address, and then he confronts Jack, who is in a wheelchair. Jack desires to be Charlie's "official nightmare", and after Charlie laughs at him, Jack pulls a gun. After a struggle, Jack is shot and killed. That night Charlie sleeps peacefully and does not wake up when his heater catches aflame and burns his apartment building down. The fire captain (Gilman) and a fireman (Clark) discuss how Charlie must have been a heavy sleeper to be the only fatality from the fire.

Bert Haber (McCormick) is a piano player in a club and is friends with singer Georgia (Lawson). He and owner Joey (Kuluva) discuss Georgia's problems with gangster "Little Dandy" Dorf (Darro) at the end of a show. Dorf harasses Georgia after she rejects flowers sent by his henchman (Sharon) and she pours a drink over Dorf's head, humiliating him. When he attempts to assault her, Haber intervenes. A man (Harrington) whom Bert takes to be an insurance man then approaches him and spills Bert's personal details, telling him that Little Dandy recommended it. The next day, a detective claiming the name "Jack Simpson" (Ryan) informs Bert that Georgia has been killed by showing him a crime-scene photograph of her face and then questions him about taking Georgia home the previous night. While they speak in private, Bert's friend and co-worker Amos (Weinrib) brings another singer in to audition. The detective discovers that Bert knows enough information to have Little Dandy arrested. However, the "detective" is one of Little Dandy's goons, and he takes Bert away as Amos plays the piano. The "insurance man" is sitting in the backseat with a gun and is revealed to be the goon's partner.

Married couple Irene (Adams) and Joe Helmer (Slate) are in dire financial straits, with their electricity being cut off for lack of payment (for three months) and Joe unable to collect more unemployment. Joe goes to get a $100 loan from a loan company, but he is turned down by the loan officer (McNear) as he has no collateral, no co-signer, and no consistent employment. That night Joe sees a man (Bradley) collapse on the sidewalk and, thinking him dead, steals his wallet filled with $275 and his identity listed as Marvin Horn. He tells Irene that he ran into an old army friend who owed him money and simply got repaid. When he goes to get dressed to go out to dinner for a celebration with Irene, Joe finds a card in the man's wallet stating that the man suffered from a cataleptic illness that only looks like death. Joe returns to the scene but is told by a patrolman (Carlile) that the man has indeed died. Joe calls the police to report that the man is not dead but refuses to give personal details. He ultimately goes to the police to confess to the desk sergeant (McVey) and save the man, only to learn from the Lieutenant Bates (Elliot) that the man was transported to the morgue. At the morgue, Joe learns that the dead man is a pickpocket named Sonny Boy Capper and that the wallet was stolen from someone else.

Helen Parch (Canova) enjoys abusing the party line and eavesdropping on other people's telephone calls. She especially is fond of listening to the gossip calls of her "friends" Emma (Corby) and Betty (Flynn). One day she is warned by police officer Mr. Atkins (Dano) that a man named Heywood Miller (Johnson) escaped prison after six years and may come after her. Years ago, Helen even listened in on Miller's gambling calls and confronted him in the neighborhood shop of Mr. Maynard (Knight). Afterward, Helen refused to let Heywood use the party line to call the doctor, staying on the line with her since-departed forgetful friend Gertrude (Grace), which led to the death of Miller's pregnant wife. Afterward, Miller began a career of burglaries, leading to his prison sentence. That night, after Atkins leaves, Heywood breaks into Helen's house basement, and when she tries to call the sheriff's office, the party line is busy with Emma and Betty, who refuse to get off the phone.

Prisoner De Baca (Ponti) is desperate for a stay of execution, with prisoners Hennessy (Best), Holt (Raybould), and others (Horan) seeking to give him hope, while former English literature Professor and fellow inmate Herbert 'Herbie' Morrison (Keith) braces him for reality. Guards Pops Lafferty (Westerfield) and Callahan (Mims) escort De Baca to the death chamber while Father McCann (Sullivan) gives him last rites. Morrison is on death row for murder and wants to die with dignity, refusing his lawyer Maury Berg's (Maxwell) attempt for a stay of execution and only desiring a full pardon. Morrison appreciates how those on the outside don't know their scheduled time, place, and manner of death. Guard Lafferty is helpful and optimistic, while guard Callahan constantly berates him. When Herbert is taken to the gas chamber, he kills guard Lafferty and is taken away. Afterward, Warden Elvery (Carson) tells Herbert that his lawyer Berg obtained a stay and found a witness to clear his name, but since Herbert killed Lafferty, he will never be pardoned.

Miss Hope (Gingold) arrives by train and intervenes with a man, Ben Huggins (Drayton), mistreating his horse Nobby; she purchases the horse for ten British pounds and renames him Ferdinand. Mrs. Wellington (March) picks up the new governess Miss Hope from the train station and is quickly thrown by Miss Hope's outspokenness. Mrs. Wellington expects Miss Hope to be more open and modern, but she herself is quite stuffy towards the nannie (Lloyd), driver Simpson, maid Rose (Hitchcock), and even Miss Hope. For the next few days Miss Hope teaches the Wellington children {Viola (V. Cartwright), Irenee (A. Cartwright), Claude, and Wilfred} biology (reproduction from studying frogs) and history (through the Schartz-Metterklume Method: to make children learn history by acting it out themselves) with enthusiasm. However, Mrs. Wellington, husband John (Conway), and even the vicar (Innocent) are appalled by her straightforward, unorthodox methods, and Mrs. Wellington fires her. Miss Hope leaves in good spirits though, because she is actually wealthy aristocrat Lady Charlotte; Mrs. Wellington mistook her for Miss Hope, and Lady Charlotte enjoyed the simple distraction and experience. Just as Lady Charlotte arrives at the train station after saying farewell to Huggins, she encounters the real Miss Hope and advises her to wait before traveling to the Wellington home. Lady Charlotte then travels by train to visit friend Jenny (Varden) and a lawn party hostess (Holm) in order to cheerfully play croquet.

Supporting Cast: Elspeth March as Mrs. Wellington, Pat Hitchcock as Rose, Noel Drayton as Ben Huggins, Doris Lloyd as Nannie, Tom Conway as John Wellington (uncredited), Veronica Cartwright as Viola Wellington (uncredited), Angela Cartwright as Irenee Wellington (uncredited), Norma Varden as Jenny (uncredited), Harold Innocent as Vicar (uncredited), Celeste Holm as Lawn Party Hostess (uncredited)

Henry Taylor Lowden (Bray) visits Kirkland and gets information from the station master (Hamilton) about the town, strangers, and the local bank. Henry visits Kirkland Mercantile Bank and gets bank information from Miss Foster (Holt) as elderly Josiah Wingate (Delevanti), the bank founder and father-in-law of the bank president, is wheeled from the bank. Henry wants to question its president, William Spengler (Sweeney), claiming that he is called Henry Taylor and is writing a book on bank crimes. Three years before a bank employee, Arnold Mathias (Nicholas), was convicted of stealing $200,000 from the bank, and Arnold recently died in a prison escape attempt, though his cellmate made it out. Only bank president Spengler and vice president Sam Kern (Newton) had keys to the strongbox, and both were supposedly gone when the theft occurred. Henry questions William aggressively, believing that Arnold was framed (as he didn't flee and had no place to stash the money) and that William stole the money (as William made it so that he was alone in the bank for several minutes). Henry details to William how he knows that William's marriage was unhappy, the phone call he had Kern make was an unnecessary ruse, and how his life was less ideal than presented. Henry firmly states that the money is in William's safety deposit box and then Henry pulls a revolver to pressure William. William, believing that Henry is Arnold's escaped cellmate Thomas Henry (a murderer), tries to make a deal with him and confesses, but Henry is actually the police officer who killed Arnold and is trying to make amends by arresting the true culprit.

Father Andy (Bell) and son Bill Davis (Reynolds) break down in the desert when their radiator overheats in their tanker truck that was converted to carry water instead of oil. Criminals Marsh (Hamilton) and Lemon (Stanton) try to pass by when their drive shaft breaks. They reveal a kidnapped woman, Stephanie Thomas (Stevenson), and $100,000 that they stole. Marsh, the brains of the operation, is focused on the money, while Lemon is obsessed with Thomas. They then steal the tanker to escape across the border to Sonoita and leave the others to die, unaware that Andy and Bill know how to survive in the desert and leaving Thomas to supposedly die with them. Andy knows that they can drink the gallons of water in the radiator and Bill knows how to start a signal fire and store water in the car tire's innertube. The next day police patrolmen (Karnes and Dockstader) find Lemon's body, with him having been shot in the head. They then find the tanker broken down, along with Marsh's body. The kidnappers turned on each other when their water ran out, not realizing that the Davises' tanker was carrying water (as it was still labelled as an oil tanker).

Ray (Horton) stops by a boat rental shop to pick up his wife and becomes enamored with Nyla Foster (Francis), a college student working over the summer for her father (Holland). Ray is married to an older woman, Gladys (Segal), but he has dalliances with younger women (of which Gladys is aware but keeps him close with a weekly allowance). Nyla resists his attentions, but she also gives him the slightest glimmer of hope, and this inspires Ray to kill Gladys so they can be together. Ray learns the basics of freshwater fishing (Gladys' favorite hobby), but he has to put up with Mr. Foster always joining them and must bide his time. One day Ray finally takes Gladys fishing alone, hoping to drown her as she drops the anchor (as she cannot swim), but Gladys knocks him out first with a leather sap (placed in a picnic basket by Nyla) and throws him overboard. It was all planned by Gladys, Nyla, and her father, because Gladys and Mr. Foster are lovers and want to get married.

New Yorker Mrs. Bixby (Meadows) travels to her dentist husband Dr. Bixby's (Tremayne) office to give him lunch, a bill, and state that she is traveling to see her aunt. Rather than travel to see her aunt, Mrs. Bixby goes to her lover's (Chase) home in Baltimore. However, the Colonel must immediately attend to some horse trading of a deceased neighbor, so his driver Dawson (Hamilton) chauffeurs him away while maid Eloise (Norman) looks after Mrs. Bixby. She receives an expensive mink coat from the Colonel and a breakup letter saying goodbye. She wants to keep the coat without arousing her husband's suspicion, so she visits a pawnbroker (Caine) and has the coat pawned for $50. She then pretends to randomly find the pawn ticket in a cab, which she gives to her husband to retrieve the item. Mrs. Bixby arrives to receive the item just as Mr. Gorman (Cheshire) walks in with a dental emergency. However, Mrs. Bixby is dismayed when her husband gives her a small mink stole; Dr. Bixby's nurse Miss Putney (Hughes) has the coat, thus implying that he is having an affair with her.

A psychiatrist (Zaremba) talks with his patient Ralph Jones (York) about his last argument with his wife of two years, Lucille (Rowlands), after a stressful day. They argue about drinking, having company, giving family money, and whether to get a new home and have more children. Then Ralph mysteriously travels two years back in time to when he was still a bachelor in December 1958. His landlord Mr. Treadwell (Julian) shows up to angrily demand two months' worth of rent money while Ralph tries to get his bearings. Ralph travels to find Lucille at her job at the soap company, but the circumstances are different than had previously occurred, as the boss is not present and Lucille turns him down. After he follows her and begs her to have lunch, what should have been their first date is a disaster as he tells her their alternate future and she believes him to be delusional. He even tries to get Jimmy the waiter (Smiley) to confirm his tale, but Jimmy doesn't know him. After Lucille leaves him, Ralph goes to the docks and talks with youngster Sidney (Burns), who sales him his baseball cards. Broken-hearted, Ralph jumps into the river and wakes up back in his regular "present" in the shower. He is infused with positivity and optimism and displays warm intentions to Lucille. Later, Ralph's psychiatrist tells him that the episode, like the one that occurred in his childhood, was just a daydream, but Ralph has a set of wet baseball cards that he brought back from his travel.

Spinster Helen (Field) is dating (and wants to marry) Harry Wade (Matthau), a rude lumber yard owner who relies on employee Carl (Ponti) to help finish jobs. Helen's brother John (Swenson) believes that Harry is a crook. John is about to get married and confronts Helen regarding her future in the house. Helen and Harry go out to their favorite place, where owner Charlie (Gilman) serves them, while Harry tells Helen that he is about to lose his business because he owes the mill $8,000, has not yet been paid for his last job, and cannot borrow from any bank. He tells Helen that he could pay back a loan within forty-eight hours easily, so Helen "borrows" the money from Mr. Ivers' (Lane) $9,000 account payment to her mortgage office in order to help Harry. She slyly takes a cashier's check while talking with Mr. Parker (Fresco) and the bank teller (Carlson). After visiting with Helen's boss Mr. Fescue (Newell), Harry goes to Helen's house for dinner and tells her that he could not get the money but promises to get it by the next day. He pays her back the money by borrowing from his "friends" on the value of his lumber. A week later, Helen goes to Charlie's and learns that Harry died to get the money for her.

As ceramics teacher Bernie Samuelson (Pollack) arrives to teach at a summer camp (Camp Lakeside), the camp's performance-driven owner Mr. Lyle Stern (Maxwell) yells at worker Angelo (Lewis) to finish the parking lot while also ordering swimming teacher Lefty James (Thourlby) to dive for Bernie. Bernie teaches the boys (Lloyd and Warga) with care, even appreciating Henry's (Phillips) snake, but he is particularly protective of Aaron Gold (Gordon), a boy who dislikes athletics but who loves sculpture. As Aaron has no other accomplishments, Mr. Stern orders that Bernie "finish" Aaron's sculpture of a one-armed knight to show off to Aaron's supermarket chain-owning father, under threat of being fired. Bernie adds the arm, which upsets Aaron deeply, because the statue is a tribute to Aaron's father Herbert (Craven), who only has one (left) arm. Bernie rips off the added arm just as Herbert walks in the door looking for Aaron.

Miss Dent (Thaxter) was secretary to married Mr. Blake (Scott) but was fired on the day after they had a liaison, so now Mr. Blake has a new secretary, Miss Smith (Edwards). Miss Dent constantly shadows and confronts Mr. Blake regarding her dismissal, once causing him to miss his train and settle for drinks from an amicable bartender (Gordon). On a train to Shady Hill, Mr. Watkins (Bailey) and Mrs. Compton (Windust) attempt to make polite discourse with Mr. Blake but are rebuffed. After weeks of being avoided, Miss Dent finally corners Mr. Blake at gunpoint and holds him hostage through his train commute in order to talk to him so that she can move on. A flashback details how she was quite appreciative of her job and willingly worked late hours, as she has no close relations in New York and felt comfortable after being in a mental hospital for eight months. One night, they entertained at her apartment and a romantic episode ensued. The next day, she was fired by Mr. Johnson (Davis) with management claiming her work to be unsatisfactory. Miss Dent makes Mr. Blake read out a letter that she wrote as the train conductor (Hamilton) announces the train's arrival at the destination, with her contemplating killing Blake for his rejection. She forces Blake to walk along the tracks with her and then place his face in the dirt, which gives her peace of mind, and she leaves him be.

Elderly Miss Lowen (Squire) learns from Detective Berger (Adams) that her niece Margie, who has been living with her for the nine years since her father's death in World War II, has been exchanging romantic letters (through a pen pal club) with 27-year-old convict Rod Collins (Gulager) for the past two years. Collins, facing life in prison for murder, has just escaped prison after nine years and may come to her for help and shelter. Margie is away staying with a friend, so the decision is made to not inform her of the circumstances. Collins breaks into Miss Lowen's house almost immediately after the detective leaves in desperation to find Margie, as he believes himself to be in love with her. Collins believes that he can work a lathe job in a machinist shop to support them while on the run. Miss Lowen promises to call her niece, but she instead calls Detective Berger. Miss Lowen knocks Collins out and the police capture him as a doctor (Montgomery) bandages his head. Unknown to all, Miss Lowen is the one who has been writing to Collins all along, using her niece's name. She immediately starts writing a new letter to Collins.

Tony Lorca (Montalbán), the Whistling Kid, is a Texas outlaw who arrives joyfully whistling at the Last Chance Saloon in a small town during a blizzard. He ruffles the feathers of the various bar patrons (Hoyt, Weaver, Pollard, Blackwell) by inquiring about how they enjoy the blizzard (while their cattle freeze) and by insulting their alcohol. He most notably upsets ranchers Bart McCormick (Johnson) and "Little Man" (Kates) by lying about how he reached the town. Elder Native American Minnie Redwing (Kelly) intervenes to state an Indian proverb and stop a gunfight, but Tony has already taken Bart's gun from its holster, leaving Bart to reconcile with Tony. He then belittles "Little Man", which attracts both Minnie and a notable woman named Shasta Cooney (Ford). Cooney buys him a beer and a pretzel, but he pours the beer down her back. Tony starts a poker game, using his six gun revolver for a stake in the game. Just as he loses his gun, belt with holster, and cartridges to Zack Martin's (Ates) four 3s, Little Man arrives back with a wanted poster outlining a plethora of charges. The townsfolk learn that there is a reward of $5,000 to turn Tony in, so various people bid for his custody. Shasta claims the reward is hers as Tony killed her husband, while Little Man claims it is his as he found the wanted poster. Shasta offers to fund Tony's stay in town if he will let her have the reward, but Tony opens the idea to the bidding of various townsfolk and sells himself to Zack Martin for $900, while Shasta throws champagne in Tony's face. Zack clears the "legality" of the act with the justice of the peace (Richards) but then sells Tony for $1000 worth of hay. The rights to Tony's reward continue to be sold for ever-increasing value when a neighboring town hears of it and sends in Trig Owens (Weston) and Pack Munce to bid. When Tony steps outside for air, Shasta kidnaps him at gunpoint. On the way, Shast admits that her husband was no good and left her and tells Tony that she is taking them to the border. Meanwhile, a marshal arrives and tells the townspeople that Tony died a year prior and the man they knew as "Tony" is actually Pepe, the real Tony's brother. Pepe has been pretending to be Tony and putting up the wanted posters in order to swindle people out of their money, although no one actually lost any money. Just then, Minnie leads Pepe and Shasta in through the front doors and up the stairs, where Pepe picks up Shasta and carries her over the threshold, with the justice of the peace saying that he married them the previous night.

Supporting Cast: Roscoe Ates as Zack Martin, Arch Johnson as Bart McCormick, Patsy Kelly as Minnie Redwing, Bernard Kates as Little Man, Brad Weston as Trig Owens, Addison Richards as Justice of the Peace, Clegg Hoyt as Bar Patron, Ray Weaver as Bar Patron in coonskin hat, Snub Pollard as Bar Patron (uncredited), Shirley Blackwell as Saloon Girl (uncredited)

Cash Bentley (Merrill) is a former champion hurdler who is bitter that his glory days have passed as he describes the "river as flowing backward" to friend Jim (Lewis) at a party. Despite his wife Louise's (Breslin) protests and Cash's physical limitations, Cash keeps racing whenever he is taunted by others, even friends such as Archie (Manson) and George (Manlove). They set up makeshift hurdles in a club evening room, and Cash runs the race to their delight. They then return home to relieve babysitter Cathy and boyfriend Eric, with Cash drunkenly setting up furniture to hurdle before breaking his leg. The doctor (Newton) tells Cash that he will never hurdle again. Cash attempts to hurdle at the next club party, but he is grabbed by Louise. One night, Cash gives Louise his gun and orders her to fire it so he can race one more time. Louise, unfamiliar with guns, accidentally shoots him.

Supporting Cast: Maurice Manson as Archie, David Lewis as Jim, Dudley Manlove as George, Theodore Newton as Physician, Bert Stevens as Club Member (uncredited), Dick Winslow as Club Member (uncredited), Steve Carruthers as Club Member (uncredited)

Small-time crook Larry (Loggia) and his girlfriend Angie (Dowling) argue about marriage and money after Larry quits as a bookie. Larry sees the secretary (May) of and gets a job with wealthy Stefan Bregornick (Kuluva), cousin to Larry's father but who saw him as naive and stupid for being straight. Bregornick is an importer of many things, including stolen goods. Bregornick introduces Larry to his friend Miklosh (Barzell) and they discuss the importation business, specifically vintage wine. Four months into the job, after constant hassling from Angie and promising her a move to dreamy Rio de Janeiro, Larry stages a phone call pretending to be Miklosh in order to sabotage a deal. Larry takes the $30,000 from Bregornick for the supposed deal and shows it to Angie, but he returns it a few hours later as Miklosh arrives for the actual deal, apologizing for his moment of weakness while invoking his father's honesty. Angie is angered at Larry's giving back the money, but Larry explains that he now has Bregornick's trust, and a better opportunity to steal more money will come his way soon.

Supporting Cast: Wolfe Barzell as Miklosh, Monica May as Secretary

Horace Meade (Scourby) narrates how he married and lived with his dead wife Sybilla (Bel Geddes) while examining his diary. He flashes back to moving into their new home after getting married, with a warm welcome by housekeepers Mrs. Carter (Kennedy) and Mr. Carter. Sybilla is perfectly obedient and agrees to all his unconventional demands, including his breakfast demands and having separate bedrooms. Horace keeps expecting and desiring to have to rebel against Sybilla's changes, but Sybilla seeks no changes whatsoever, which annoys Horace. Despite her absolute loyalty and obedience, Horace grows uncomfortable with her and tries to poison her with sleep medicine in her evening wine, but he is mysteriously thwarted after Sybilla spills the medicine while cleaning. After Horace notices that Sybilla has a key to Horace's desk (and therefore access to his diary stating his thoughts), he concludes that she knew about the poisoning and has made contingencies with her lawyer (Robinson) in case she dies, and his only choice is to keep her alive and healthy. Sybilla gets sick after eight years of marriage, so they visit the seashore and consult a doctor (Wynn). Finally, after ten years of marriage, Sybilla dies of natural causes. Horace learns that there was no contingency plan (she left everything she had to him), and he realizes that he truly loved her in the end.

Senior citizens Alice Wagner (Byington) and Mildred (Marden) split up after leaving the bowling alley and Alice is mugged. Alice gets dressed up fancily to go to the police, which her daughter Mabel questions (Leslie) and her son-in-law Leo (McGuire) flatters. While browsing mugshots with police Lieutenant Meade (Dunne), Alice finds a photo of a man named William Graves who looks like her son-in-law Leo. Meanwhile, Mabel and Leo fight over Leo's gambling habits, and Alice questions Mabel about Leo's financial past in California. When Alice sees Lt. Meade again, she is assured by Lt. Meade that the photo resemblance is merely a coincidence. However, when she brings in a photograph of Leo and Mabel to the police, she is shocked to learn both her daughter and son-in-law are revealed to be wanted criminals. Lt. Meade stops by her residence to arrest them and tells her they are wanted for five years-worth of criminal activity in California.

James Barrett (Gaines) busily plans for his absence so that he can go on a business trip to Toronto. He turns affairs over to Philip Weaver (Walker) and calls his wife Mrs. Barrett (Marshall) to cancel lunch. Scatterbrained Mrs. Barrett goes to lunch and conspires with Philip, her lover, to kill James while he is away on the Toronto business trip. Doorman Harry (Weinrib) carries James' bags while housekeeper Helen (Angold) is placed in charge of the household and Mrs. Barrett says goodbye, carrying out the first part of the plan. Mrs. Barrett receives a letter from Philip detailing her instructions to mail a letter to James in Toronto and host a party. However, she mistakenly mails the instruction letter incriminating Philip and her about the murder plan to James while distracted talking to friend Raymond (Stratton). She frantically tries to get it back by chasing after the mail carrier's truck and requesting it from the post office, but she fails as the letter was already mailed. At Helen's advice, she calls the telephone company while party guests (Richards, Carson) begin to arrive, with her friend Lotte (Carr) complaining about her vitamin pills. Mrs. Barrett receives a phone call indicating that James never arrived just as Harry shows up stating that the letter was returned due to insufficient postage; however, he thoughtfully put correct postage on the letter to help her reach her husband.

Supporting Cast: Richard Gaines as James Barrett, Peter Walker as Philip Weaver, Lennie Weinrib as Harry, Chet Stratton as Raymond, Edit Angold as Helen, Liz Carr as Lotte, Frank Richards as Party Guest, Charles Carson as Party Guest

While on holiday in Las Vegas, paleontology Professor William Benson (Hill) stumbles on a money clip containing $92,000 when leaving a casino. He rents a safety deposit box from bank employee Elaine Purdy (Prentis) to store the cash while he considers his options. He then goes to the local newspaper to write a lost-and-found article regarding the money, and the advertising manager, A.J. Meecham (Cooper), advises him to go to the police. At the police station, the desk sergeant (Allen) and Captain Bone (Armstrong) take his report but adamantly claim that the missing amount is actually $102,000, stating that Benson must have gambled the extra money away despite Benson's protestations. Benson states that despite being tempted, he reported it so that it can be returned to its owner, who happens to be casino mogul Mr. Newsome (Cameron). Newsome also claims that the clip is supposed to contain $102,000 and initially comes across as amicable, claiming that the money will be found and offering to let Benson and his wife Joyce stay at his hotel free for a week. At Newsome's hotel, where Benson was previously staying, casino employee Mr. Lent (Barron) treats Benson to drinks and gaming. However, when taken to a back office, Newsome reveals that he has kidnapped Benson's wife, demanding that Benson "return" the missing money.

Dane Rosse (Pryor) visits a renowned clockmaker, Ulrich Klemm (Sofaer), to look at his broken pocket watch, a rare family heirloom. Ulrich makes complex clock figurines and repairs delicate pieces, but he had no desire to be a doctor because of the flaws of human bodies. While there, Dane falls in love with Lisa Klemm (Helm), granddaughter of Ulrich, who cooks dinner for them. A little while later, Dane receives a promotion and offers marriage to Lisa. Ulrich is highly protective of Lisa, though, and refuses to let the pair marry, commanding her to stay with an almost hypnotic control. Ulrich even threatens to destroy Lisa rather than let her go. Dane leaves town heartbroken and learns through his friend Jack (Sampson) that Lisa has fallen seriously ill, as Jack visited Ullrich to ask why Lisa had not replied to Dane's letters over the three previous months. When Dane returns and breaks into Ullrich's boarded-up business, he finds Ulrich dead of exhaustion from his work of "saving" Lisa by turning her into a clockwork automaton.

Phyllis (Adams) and Ben Kendall (Franciscus) are searching for a new home in Salem, Massachusetts with their 9-year-old daughter Katie (Gordon) when Phyllis is drawn to a particular 107-year-old house being sold by elderly Amelia Gastell (Grace). They get a blessing from the reverend (Hoyt) who informs them of Amelia's family history. Not long after they move into the house, Katie claims that she has made a new friend, "Lettie", whom her parents never see. Katie and Lettie constantly play by the creek next to the house, but Lettie is never to be found by Phyllis and Ben. A doctor (Nedd) comes to check on Lettie, as she has a slight fever, but he believes that Katie is making up Lettie. They discover that Lettie's aunt Bridgette was hanged as a witch during the Salem witch trials. Katie even wears a necklace of buzzard bones which she says Lettie gave her to keep away the pox. After visiting the local Puritan graveyard with the reverend, Phyllis suspects that Lettie is Lauretta Bishop, a 9-year-old Puritan girl who died in 1694. When Ben asks Amelia, now their babysitter, to find a new friend for Katie, Amelia brings "Judy Davidson" (Cartwright) to their house, but Judy is actually Lettie, who is also Lauretta Bishop.

Jane (P. Smith) and Ralph Birdwell (Sampson) happily discuss buying their daughter Eileen a new doll when Mrs. Meade (Trevor) stops by their home after giving up the rights to her birth-daughter Eileen seven years prior. She states that she wants Eileen back from the Birdwells, who raised Mrs. Meade's abandoned daughter Eileen as their own. She is willing to forget it for $100-150 per week and threatens to hire a lawyer. Meade is visited at her home by private investigator Phil Ames (Elliot), who promises her $25,000 in exchange for twenty percent of the cut. They team up to kidnap Eileen after she leaves school, as he convinces her that she can simply take back her daughter legally. They do a dry run by the school, while Phil tells Meade to take her in a taxicab to her home and hold her until he calls. After the deed is done, Phil comes by with his "partner" Charlie Vance (Calder) and reveals that it turns out to be a trap, as Phil is a friend of the Birdwells and Charlie is a former FBI agent. They threaten Meade with a life in prison for kidnapping the girl, who is not Eileen but actually another girl named Margaret (S. Smith), and who happens to be Phil's child.

Joe (Wynn) and Wanda Ferlini (Sterling) are a husband-and-wife escape artist act, though their marital relationship is strained. They argue about age and whether they can still do difficult tricks, and Joe is especially sensitive about being called old. Joe argues with agent Harry Miller (Patrick) about working an especially complex trick involving swimming and handcuffs. Meanwhile, Wanda has a secret relationship with singer Tommy (Craven), who urges her to leave Joe. At an event where Joe finally gets to attempt his dream trick, police Chief Wallace (Carson) is given the honor of placing the handcuffs on Joe, while associate Dave Brooks (Rondell) drives the boat to dump Joe into the lake. When Joe performs the dangerous water escape while handcuffed, Wanda switches his keys, causing him to drown. At the funeral, while the reverend (Meredith) gives his sermon, an insurance investigator (Stroud) interrupts and opens the coffin, revealing to the public that it is empty. Harry reveals that he privately arranged that Joe be buried somewhere secret as a final "escape", but due to the stunt, Wanda goes insane and is placed under the care of a psychiatrist (Livesey).

Writer Hal Bellew (Jaffe) peruses a book on entomology looking for his next movie monster while director Morty Lenton (Harris) attempts to write his soundtrack. Screenwriter Fred Logan (Redfield), tasked with finding a new monster bug, asks Morty to cast veteran horror actor Ernst von Croft (Hale) in their latest film in a comeback role. Bellew convinces von Croft to join the cast and return to greatness. Bellew sends Fred to watch the film with audiences and take notes for a sequel. Although Fred and von Croft believe that it is a regular low-budget horror film, Morty has reworked it as a horror parody with blonde bombshell Lara Lee (Welles) and cartoonish voices, which embarrasses von Croft. Fred gets drunk and visits a depressed and angry von Croft to convince him that he was "the greatest monster of them all" and to forget about it, but to no avail. In revenge, von Croft dresses as a vampire and kills Morty before committing suicide by leaping to his death.

England. Bartender Wilkins (Main) and customers Tom (Harvey) and Bert (Pelling) talk about crimes occurring in their provincial town while an old man (Mustin) plays darts. When Billy Weaver (Stockwell) arrives, waitress Rosie (Livesey) serves him food and drink while Weaver helps Wilkins open his stuck cash register. Weaver leaves and soon finds accommodations in the house of a friendly landlady (Collinge). The landlady keeps referring to two other tenants (Christopher Mulholland and Gregory Temple) on the third floor, but Weaver never sees them and can only place their names with "something unpleasant". Weaver investigates their rooms but finds no evidence that anyone has stayed there recently. One rainy day, Weaver drinks a cup of tea prepared by his landlady and becomes completely immobile. The landlady has a hobby of collecting and stuffing her "pets", which include the tenants that she likes, her dog Basil, and her parrot, and she even sings hymns "with" them every Sunday.

Twenty-five-year-old Enid (Meadows) has two lovers, brash young 26-year-old Eliot Gray (Marlowe) and gentle 59-year-old widower Cyril Hardeen (Matheson). Eliot stops by Enid's house to offer a quiet night after two months together, but Enid strongly desires to go out and refuses to see Eliot on Saturday nights. When directly confronted, Enid finally admits that she has been seeing Cyril for over four years, so Eliot gives her an ultimatum and finally tells Enid that he loves her. The two men meet when Eliot travels to Cyril's sprawling home and is invited in by Cyril's manservant (Indrisano), and the two discuss what they can offer Enid (youth versus romanticism). While having a drink together in his basement, Cyril challenges Eliot to unarmed combat and the more sophisticated Cyril frames Eliot by having him beat up by a substitute fighter, his manservant Joseph, and then having Joseph and he (Cyril) box to make it look as though Cyril and Eliot fought. Police Sergeant Marsh and Sergeant Baker (McLeod) stop by Eliot's home to question him and take him to Cyril's for identification, and Cyril claims that Eliot beat him up, although he refuses to file charges. Enid refuses to believe the truth and leaves Eliot for Cyril.

Thirty-five-year-old Ernie Walters (Torn) robs the department of state revenue by holding up the tax clerk (Keefer) at lunchtime for $12,000. He leaves behind a hotel key for room 402 that is found by hostage Mrs. Simmons (MacMichael) before traveling in a taxi and amicably joking with the driver (Swoger). He then visits his girlfriend Florrie (Munday), who doesn't recognize him until he removes the makeup used to hide his identity. They talk of spending a honeymoon in Pensacola, but he wants her to leave immediately before he joins her in a week's time. He is newly released from prison after serving six years for a crime of which he was only just proven to be innocent (robbing a gas station). Meanwhile, Detective Cooper (Freed) investigates the crime scene and checks about the hotel room key while Mrs. Simmons complains about wanting to go home and the tax clerk tallies the financial losses from the robbery. In order to get back at the detective and district attorney who convicted him, Ernie leaves just enough "flaws" in his plan (registering the hotel room in his name) that Detective Cooper and District Attorney Phillip Bentley (Patterson) suspect that he is the culprit, but they are unable to pursue a case against him. The hotel desk clerk (Sully) swears that there are no extra keys (although Ernie worked in the machine shop while incarcerated) and Cooper finds no evidence after ransacking Ernie's room. When taken for a police line-up, the two male witnesses state only that there is a passing resemblance, with only Mrs. Simmons somewhat believing him to be the culprit but still unsure. DA Bentley, lacking in enough reliable evidence and witnesses, orders Ernie to get out of town and never come back. Ernie gladly replies that he can afford to before leaving.

Father Amion (Rains) hosts a service on a rainy day with a leaky roof when Mr. Cheever (Ragan) visits to outline the physical infrastructure problems of the church at a cost of around $1500. Collector of church funds Morton (Helton) gives Father Amion a ten-dollar bill from a new attendee, more than has been seen in quite a while. The newest arrival at Father Amion's church is Sheridan (Gardner), a gambler who believes that prayer has caused his recent success at the horse races with six winners in eight races. After visiting an elderly parishioner (Murphy), Father Amion runs into Sheridan while walking, and Sheridan tells him that he has now won 14 out of 18 races. Father Amion disapproves of gambling but, due to shortage of funds to fix the church, visits his bank teller (Newell) and then gives Sheridan his life savings of $500 to bet on a "sure" winning horse named "Sally's Pal". Father Amion is quickly remorseful and confesses to Bishop Cannon (MacKenna), who states that they both must pray that the horse loses instead. Sheridan returns with news that the horse just missed winning and declares that he will stop gambling and go back to the hardware business, which pleases Father Amion. However, Father Amion is surprised to get his money back with a little extra ($2100 total), because Sheridan put his bet on the horse to place, not to win.

Traveling haberdashery salesman Leon Gorwald (Fiedler) of Philadelphia is arrested in a small town for jaywalking and attempted bribery of a deputy sheriff (Healey) and placed in jail. Gorwald repeatedly requests a hearing before a magistrate judge, while the sheriff, Monty (Denton), and the deputy, Carly, discuss a recent murder of a local girl. Soon enough, the sheriff orders Carly and another deputy, Bill 'Sandy' Sanderson (Nicholas), to bring in a suspected serial killer (Jaeckel) and place him in the adjacent cell. When the deputies notice that a lynch mob is forming in local Petrie's Bar, the sheriff decides to move the suspected killer. The suspect knocks out the sheriff and escapes just before a lynch mob led by Petrie (Challee) storms the jail, but he forces Gorwald to trade clothing before leaving. Gorwald is mistakenly taken to be lynched but is saved by Sandy and Carly at the last moment. However, the escaped suspect was, in fact, an innocent man, and Gorwald is the real killer. After being released, Gorwald is last seen putting a knife in his jacket pocket and picking up a hitchhiking girl (Dupuis) with malicious intent imprinted upon his face.

Arnold Burton (McKay) is controlled by his domineering but invalid wife, Elizabeth (Fitzgerald), and he has his servant Chester (Lontoc) prepare an egg exactly to her specifications. When the attractive Miss Greco (Bower) is hired as Elizabeth's nurse, she and the Shakespeare-reading Arnold begin an affair and slowly poison Elizabeth by overdosing her medicine. Before she can die, Elizabeth catches them kissing and fires Miss Greco. Elizabeth then hires an older woman (O'Malley) to be her nurse, not knowing that the woman is Arnold's mother, who helps him continue to poison Elizabeth.

Mr. Hollister (Gates) is curator of a small museum that displays trinkets and human remains. He is visited by Newton B. Clovis (McCormick) who claims to be an archaeo-psychologist. They peruse through Hollister's collection before focusing on one particular skeleton, which Hollister said that he knew and who Clovis says was an athlete. Hollister tells him that the museum's collection was made by his son, Ben (Convy), who died after being erroneously convicted of first-degree murder. Clovis determines that Ben was kind and caring. A flashback details how Ben hunted down a gray fox in a neighbor's barn while lovers Tim McCaffrey (Gilleran) and his girlfriend (Tompkins) watched. Tim struck Ben down with a pitchfork, and Ben's gun fired when he fell, killing Tim. Hollister was angry that District Attorney Mr. Henshaw (Platt) did nothing to stop the newspaper and the public from predetermining Ben to be guilty of murder. Henshaw used Ben's marksmanship (hitting the eye with every shot) against him while the judge (Meredith) struggled to maintain order in the courtroom and the defense attorney (Bradley) struggled to keep Ben from consistently committing outbursts. Henshaw also refused to help Ben get any leniency on his sentence, and Ben would be dead within two months after losing the will to live. After their discussion of the events, Clovis examines the skeleton's teeth. It is revealed that the modern skeleton in the museum belongs to Henshaw, and Clovis is investigating that murder as a member of the district attorney's office. When Clovis turns away to look at the skeleton, Hollister stabs and kills him. The episode ends as Hollister takes another group on a tour of the museum, this time examining both Henshaw's and Clovis' skeletons.

Lucy Baldwin (Heckart) and lover Arthur Clark (DeFore) arrive to Lucy's home in a hurry after being alerted by housekeeper Mrs. Evans (Fax) of a supposed heart attack involving Lucy's mother (Kennedy). Dr. Larson (Malet) tells Lucy that the whole episode was made up by Mrs. Baldwin to get Lucy home and advises that Lucy get out more. Lucy has waited on her malingering mother her whole life, to the point where she is not allowed to get married. Lucy and her mother argue over Mrs. Baldwin's shenanigans and Lucy's desire to get married despite her mother's protestations and threat to leave her wealth to charity if Lucy does indeed marry. When Lucy's lover Arthur (DeFore) proposes for the last time, Lucy overdoses her mother's sleeping medicine successfully. Lawyer Mr. Simon (Karnes) sees the transfer of Mrs. Baldwin's limited properties to Lucy and reveals that Mrs. Baldwin's wealth came from an annuity, so Lucy will receive no more money. However, after Lucy marries Arthur, she discovers that Arthur's mother (Bonney) is exactly the same kind of demanding, malingering woman that her mother had been. Lucy is forced to give up her honeymoon and become Mrs. Clark's full-time nurse, so she suggests to Arthur that they get some sleeping medicine for Mrs. Clark.

Ben Conan (Philips) and Peter Talbot (Tremayne) count up how much money Talbot owes Sheldon while Talbot's wife Lisa (Scala) criticizes him for his losses. Peter collapses from alcoholic consumption and Lisa embraces Ben romantically, detailing to Ben how she wants to divorce Peter but cannot afford to because of community property laws. Ben is actually a con artist named Fred Sheldon who targets wealthy married women and claims his wealth comes from owning a silver mine. His current con on Lisa is threatened by private detective and former San Francisco vice squad detective Alvin Moss (Collins), who knows about his past and his various aliases. Fred tells Lisa that Peter is pressing him and asks Lisa for $10,000 for his fake mine. Fred murders Peter by drowning him in the bathtub, but he then Moss immediately arrives and tells Fred that he was, in fact, hired by Lisa, who used Fred to kill her husband by convincing Fred that Peter had heart problems.

New York, 1916. Meyer Fine (Falk) is a casino owner with a crippling fear of death. Meyer and valet John (Hartman), who fears lobsters, discuss an injured dealer and gambling winnings. Then he talks with bartender Frank (Gordon) about a wild gambler, Young Combs (Stewart), who is the son of a notable city official. After bouncer Hubert (Hoyt) informs Meyer that Combs kills himself, a policeman (Remsen) stops by to threaten shutting down Meyer's business, as well as that of two other casino owners named Masotti (Hashim) and Dumfee (Dennis). When he makes a mistake that threatens his business by not preventing henchman Otto (Lukas) kill a private investigator for taking a picture of his gambling parlor, his former partners put a hit out on him after killing Otto. As soon as he leaves his home, a drive-by shooting hits him, but he is only wounded. Meyer is terrified of waiting for them to finish the job, so he begs his loyal valet John to help kill him first, and John shoots him.

Supporting Cast: Clegg Hoyt as Hubert, Karl Lukas as Otto, Phil Gordon as Frank the Bartender, Edmund Hashim as Masotti, John Dennis as Joe Dumfee, Adam Stewart as Young Combs, Bert Remsen as Policeman

Wealthy 65-year-old Howard Rutherford (Truex) proposes to his 25-year-old secretary Charlotte (Court). Charlotte's current lover, Mark (Cassidy), makes Charlotte accept so they can live on Howard's fortune of $11 million when he dies, a plan of which even Howard approves as he believes that he has only about a year to live. However, Howard lives on for years while being looked after by a nurse (O'Hara), and he gifts Charlotte a pearl for her necklace every year. Meanwhile, Mark marries someone else (Webber) and has a son named Billy (Burns). When Mark stops by to see Charlotte, she and Billy connect over a shared love of tennis, though she desires no relationship with Mark whatsoever. They play every summer, and Howard even agrees to send Billy to prep school. Howard finally dies at 90 on their twenty-fifth anniversary, and to Mark's dismay, 50-year-old Charlotte begins a new love affair and marriage with his son, Billy (Faulkner), who is now 20 years old.

Successful singer Crystal Coe (Bergen) complains to her maid Pauline (Carleton) about her monotonous life. She tried to erase all evidence of her sordid past, and the only person who knows the truth is her husband Tony (Maross), who spent seven years in prison after taking the fall for Crystal's petty theft and is upset that he received no letters from her or even a birth announcement of their child. Tony arrives after a show, and they go for a drive and talk while a gas station attendant (Romano) checks on the automobile. Crystal signals to the attendant that she needs help while Tony anxiously looks over the gun he used for past crimes, which Crystal saved. Tony tries to get out of the vehicle, but Crystal refuses to let him leave. When the police pull behind her with sirens blaring, Crystal pulls the gun and shoots Tony. She tells the policeman (Britton) and a lieutenant (Kinsella) that Tony was a random stalker that tried to kill her, and her current 'husband' George Wyncliff (Albertson) takes her home. However, she learns that Tony filed for an invention patent for electronic equipment and the police are tracking down his beneficiaries.

Lonely high school student Susan Harper (Harrison) talks with her friend Marjorie Stone (Kristen) until Susan's crush Tom (Gilleran) comes outside, but Tom is more interested in Marjorie than Susan. Susan turns down friend Eva (Henreid) offering to walk home together and she walks alone instead. While walking through a park, Susan pretends to be attacked by a masked man in order to get attention. She is successful and a police detective (Brandt) takes her home to tell her parents (Calder and Moore) and get a description. Reporter Eve (McVeagh) and a photographer (Fresco) arrive to interview her for the newspaper. She almost picks out a suspect (Martin) from a police lineup until Sergeant Martin (McVey) reminds her that she is contradicting her own story. When the community moves on to the next big news of sibling students dying in a climbing accident, she strangles the school's most popular girl, Marjorie, to make it seem as though the "masked man" is responsible. Susan is pleased to be relevant again, but her actions have inspired a copycat masked man, and he attacks and strangles her at the same park pond where she had planned everything in the beginning.

Gerald Clarke (Nader) is a World War II veteran soldier with PTSD. When he is held at gunpoint by a young robber, Jimmy Philips (Paget), at a liquor store, he takes the store's gun from owner Mrs. Gruber (Fax) and shoots the boy, killing him. Gerald, a radio engineer, is interviewed by police Lieutenant Schwartz (Gravers) and Sergeant Krebs (Carlile) about the incident and Gerald's trauma from the war. Although Gerald is exonerated by the police, the boy's mother, Mrs. Philips (Trotter), walks in and begins talking with Gerald, each not knowing who the other is initially. Gerald attends Jimmy's funeral to listen to the clergyman's (Jackson) sermon and speaks with Mrs. Philip's boss, Henry Willett (Lockwood), giving him money to pay for Jimmy's funeral service. Mr. Willett says that Mrs. Philips is a good woman, but she must confront the fact that Jimmy wasn't so good. After she visits Gerald at his radio station job, they agree to meet at his apartment later. There, she confronts Gerald with a gun demanding to know why he made three killing shots in a row (out of four total shots) when Jimmy's gun wasn't loaded. After a stand-off, Mrs. Philips puts the gun away and prepares to leave, but Gerald is triggered by her gun and shoots her repeatedly.

Art gallery owner James 'Jim' Howgill (Howard) wants to divorce his wife Marjorie (Donahue) but has no grounds for it, other than being bored, but Marjorie doesn't believe in it. He travels to Acapulco and has a fun time with beautiful Estelle (Murphy) at a beach party. Afterward, he sees an attorney, Mr. Johnson (Richards), about a divorce, but Mr. Johnson convinces him to check in on Marjorie, as he has no real grounds for divorce. At Johnson's recommendation, he reluctantly hires a private investigator, Mr. Bates (Johnson), who visits Jim at the gallery and is introduced by employee Mrs. Hackett (MacMichael). Bates tails Marjorie, and Jim is shocked to hear that his wife has been throwing parties and has an actor named Niles Brandon as her lover. Jim is jealous and starts ignoring the caring and patient Estelle, who finally leaves him. Jim reconciles with Marjorie after discussing her new hobbies, but later learns that Bates had been following the wrong woman, an actress named Kathleen Perry (Welles) who looks very similar to Marjorie and had been subletting the house while Marjorie was in San Francisco.

Successful author Kerwin Drake (Emery) comes home to his secretary Tina (Johnston) preparing hors d'oeuvres for his coming guests. He receives a surprise visit from Molly (Van Fleet), the wife he walked out on 22 years ago. Molly has an apartment three blocks away and saw him in the society pages. Kerwin has made a new name and new life for himself with young Sylvia Colton (Hackett) and refuses to acknowledge Molly; instead, he tells his publisher Harold Standish (Rhodes) and friends George (Robinson) and Mrs. (Givney) Colton and Lydia Standish (Frost) that she is his cook. Later, Kerwin visits Molly at her apartment and offers up to $10,000 for her to leave him alone. After they argue, he strangles her to death. The murder is witnessed by his friend Lydia Standish, who was at the apartment to hire Molly as a cook.

Fifty-year-old Harry Beggs (Denton) visits the warden (Carson) and the prison cashier (Swoger) to leave prison with $1,636 of back pay from 20 years of working in the prison work camps in construction. A bus driver (Perkins) takes him to the bank where the teller (Lloyd) cashes his check. He stops at a bar and calls his estranged wife Edith (Nolan), but he cannot bring himself to speak to her. He is then tricked by the bartender Lucky (Martin) and a young woman named Angela (Silo) into getting drunk, and all of his money is stolen when he wakes up at 1:00 AM. After angrily accusing the bartender of stealing his wallet, the bartender throws him out. A man on the street (Lamont) advises to him to go home, and as he has nowhere else to go, Harry goes to his estranged wife Edith's house for a reunion. They discuss his crime of shooting at a police officer during a holdup and her anger at him. Although she never visited him at the prison, she doesn't believe in divorce. They reconcile as he shows his guilt at losing the money. As they embrace, Angela walks in the door with a shiny new earring. They are both dismayed to discover that they are, in fact, father and daughter.

Leonard Thompson (Balsam) visits Simms Mortuary to get information from owner Simms (Whitehead) about the highest quality of funeral arrangements for $4,780, which he agrees to purchase. Thompson is tired of being stuck with his miserly and invalid wife Elise 'Elsie' (Nathan) and longs for adventure anywhere else. After his secretary (Brown) informs him, he goes to see hobbyist merchant Bradshaw (Pickens) and looks over exotic foreign weapons. Meanwhile, Elsie is visited by Dr. Maxwell (Robinson) at their home, and she blames Leonard for her illness by taking her to Haiti, where she got sick. Maxwell says that she could live another 30 years if she would only exercise more often, a thought that Leonard dreads to hear. Thompson purchases the funeral arrangements in cash, quits his job, and runs into bicycling neighbor child Billy Howard (Russell), whom he gives life advice after dropping an amulet, buying movie tickets, and talking of going on a big trip. Thompson then goes to purchase poison from the pharmacy clerk (Kane) and pours it into a glass of milk, but it is not for Elsie — instead, Leonard commits suicide by drinking it just as Simms comes to collect the body.

Married Elise Taylor (der Vlis) is having an affair with married farm equipment salesman Bish Darby (Best), and they flirt cautiously while at a New Year's party with Bish's wife Jackie (Sherwood) and Elise's husband Ken (Flynn). Others, such as Dr. Bob Hudson (Elliot) and wife Della (Brando), notice Bish's charisma while he sings. Bish and Jackie's children Bob (Rush) and Mattie (Whitney) adore their father and greatly miss him when he goes on business trips. While Jackie is away on a trip to her parents in Mississippi, Ken walks in on the pair and shoots Bish dead. Elise even tells friend Della that she married Ken because she thought he would let her get away with anything. Dr. Hudson is called to the scene as Police officers (Lockwood) watch. When Dr. Hudson calls Jackie, she confesses to the murder, thinking that Bish drank her poisoned saccharin. Elise, though, drank the saccharin with her coffee after Bish was shot, herself then shortly dying afterward.

District Attorney Rudy Cox (Nielsen) is gardening when he gets a visit from Assistant DA Cliff Woodman about information leaking that they have indecent connections to criminals. Cox has been hiding his relationship with racketeer Mac Davis (Stone), who saved his life in the war in Germany years ago. Davis goes to an apartment he holds, only for him to be met by associate Ernie Stillinger (Landers), who is armed and desperate to dispose of evidence that will be used against him at trial. Davis promises Ernie that he will fix things regarding witness Lou Heinz (Kates), as Ernie has no desire to return to jail. Cox meets with the mayor (Arnt) to discuss Heinz as a witness and the relationship between Cox and Davis, and the mayor threatens to remove Cox if he doesn't get an indictment and conviction. Cox goes to meet Heinz, who holds all the evidence in his mind, rather than on paper. A zippo lighter outlining the initials "M.D." and "1944" is left behind at Heinz's apartment hideout as a threat, after he had gone out to obtain alcohol and was apparently seen. Cox goes home to spend time with his wife Helen (Robinson), but she leaves, and Davis arrives afterward in secret. Davis tells Cox to drop the case and also that he is going straight and will leave the business to get married. However, a police lieutenant (McLeod) stops by the next day to tell Cox that Heinz was killed that night around 10:00 PM, and Davis's only alibi is that he was with Cox at the time of the murder, but Cox refuses to acknowledge Davis and says that he has not seen him since he took office.

Professor Jarvis (Ford) is a teacher of anatomy who discovers that one of his students Perry Hatch (Gray) is cheating on an exam. Perry pleads for forgiveness, but Jarvis threatens to write a letter to Perry's father. Perry meets with friend Denny (Brothers) to discuss the situation and figure that Jarvis is so grumpy because of his domineering wife and their frequent, violent quarrels. Later, Perry and Denny visit Jarvis to try to get him to change his mind so that he won't potentially lose access to his family's money. At Jarvis's house, Perry sees the professor disposing of an old hat box. Knowing that Jarvis's wife Margaret has not been seen in six or seven months, he begins to suspect foul play. He examines the hat box and discovers a brand-new hat, which is very unlikely to be thrown away. Perry informs a police inspector, Lieutenant Roman (Maxwell), who interviews Jarvis when the story of the wife visiting her sister falls apart. Jarvis claims that he and his wife are separated and denies that there has been any wrongdoing. Roman accepts Jarvis's story that he still loves her and returns his wife's hat. Jarvis takes the hat to his study, places it on a skeleton hanging there, and says simply "Goodnight, Margaret".

Six-year-old Jackie Chester (Mumy) loves playing guns. He is delighted when his Uncle Rick (Dunne) arrives from Africa with a surprise gift. His parents Fred (Elliot) and Amy (Prentis) talk with Rick about the noise and danger of Africa that he faced. Unable to wait until Rick unpacks, Jackie goes through his uncle's bags and finds a gun and ammunition. Jackie thinks it is a toy, the gift his uncle promised, so he goes outside to play with it. He "holds up" the mailman (Lukas) before going to the local supermarket. He argues with little girl Darlene (Ellison) and her father (Soule) over riding a mechanical horse. Jackie's parents and Uncle Rick discover that Jackie is on the loose with a loaded gun and set out frantically to find him, asking the market manager (Zaremba), market clerk (Duncan), and cashier (Burton) while a customer rants (Canfield). Jackie only stops "shooting" people to enjoy a snack given to him by a Jiffy snack girl (Kristen). After aiming and not firing the gun at various people, Jackie goes home and asks the maid, Cleo (Moore), to play with him. When she says she's too busy, Jackie aims the gun and fires it at her. Uncle Rick and the parents arrive just in time to deflect the shot.

Leo Torbey (Lloyd) works at a carnival and wakes one day after a night of drinking to discover that he has bought a strange monkey for his sideshow for $500. The monkey is actually a dwarf named Maria (de Mars) who draws portraits of people while disguised as a monkey. Multiple people are impressed with Maria and offer to buy her, including carny Benny (Martin) and girlfriend Lena (Anders). Maria falls in love with Leo, which causes problems with Leo's wife Carol (Talbot). When Leo is away, El Magnifico (Hashim) tries to seduce Carol. Maria draws a picture depicting Carol and El Magnifico in an embrace. Seeing the picture and finding Carol's shoes to be muddy, Leo accuses Carol of cheating on him. He throws her out after an angry denial and goes looking for El Magnifico, finding only an elderly woman (Bennett) who states that El Magnifico went to the hospital for his appendix, meaning that he and Carol are innocent. Finally having Leo all to herself, Maria confesses her love for Leo. Angrily, Leo spurns her affections and sells her to Benny. Leo writes to his wife begging her to return. Unfortunately, Leo is killed by an angry Benny who was driven to a murderous rage after he saw a drawing of Maria that showed Leo and Benny's wife in a romantic embrace.

Cool-headed Phil (Matthau) and impetuous Davey (Cannon) are two stick-up men who get into trouble when Davey shoots a bank messenger (Begley) during a holdup on a city street, while a helpless woman (Dudley) watches and screams for help. Phil leaves their hideout to get some space from Davey, as well as to retrieve a newspaper and some sandwiches from the local seller (Winogradoff). When he reads the newspaper, he realizes that the messenger died and that they now face a murder charge. He is determined to eliminate the witness and devises a plan, but he refuses to tell Davey about it. Phil goes to see a friend, Marty (Fein), and must talk his way past his receptionist (Brown). Phil disguises himself as a police officer after buying an outfit from Marty and manages to bluff his way past the guards, Tom Spinelli (Reiner) and Max Miller (Kane), at the witness's apartment. He kills the witness and makes a successful escape. Later, when he returns to his hideout, he is shot by Davey, who mistakes him for a real cop coming to arrest him.

Julia Reddy (Francis) fixes dinner for her husband Marco (Hashim) and his brothers Kenny (Wells) and Sam (Ponti). When Marco tells her that he is working late again with his brothers, Julia is angry to be left alone again. She wants a dog, but Marco has allergies. Late at night, she hears a noise and calls the police (Pope and McLeod). The police think it's a false alarm cause by cats, but she gets an idea. She calls a detective and asks him to find the prowler. When Detective Parks (Ging) arrives, she speaks of her past in Cincinnati and tries to seduce him. Marco arrives, but when he sees the pair, he doesn't get jealous. He tries to run away. The detective apprehends Marco and Julie discovers that Marco and his brothers have been robbing warehouses at night; indeed, Marco's actual name is Harry Miland. Her unwitting trick on her husband has gotten him arrested.

Mark (Howard) and Alan (Brinkerhoff) are fraternity brothers, aka frat boys. During a party at a beachfront frat house with fellow brothers Robert (Crothers) and Franklin (Darden) and female friends Phyllis (Steele), Beth (Harris), and Dodo (Mason), Mark challenges Alan to a drinking contest. Valedictorian Alan drinks a full pitcher of beer, but Mark refuses to do the same. Alan becomes angry, but he and Mark eventually pass out. Alan's frat brothers decide to play a joke on him by injecting Mark with a substance to make him appear dead and putting makeup on him. They place a bloody weapon in Alan's hand, hoping that when he wakes up, he'll think he killed Mark. The prank goes off according to plan until Alan decides to cover up the "murder". He buries Mark's body in a blanket on the beach. When the prank is revealed to him, he and the group desperately return to the beach. Unfortunately, the high tide has washed away all traces of Mark's grave.

While her husband Tom (York) is away, Julie Barton (Kearney) is attacked in her home by an intruder and is looked after by Dr. Vaughn (Milan). She tells police Lieutenant Christensen (de Corsia) and District Attorney Mr. Dahl (Caine) that she didn't get a good look at him but managed to fight him off. In the process of fighting, she ripped one of the intruder's leather gloves. Julie is terrified, even locking all the doors so that the grocery deliveryman (Gilleran) can't get in the kitchen. Her father, Mr. Dutton (Quinn), stops by to give her flowers and speak with Tom about her delicate nature, and a policeman (Britton) stops by to tell them that the police have arrested someone. When she goes to identify the intruder in a police lineup, she wears a pair of dark sunglasses, leading the lieutenant to question her to reveal her fear of strangers. She identifies one of the men, Charles Brunner (Perron), who is being treated by psychiatrist Dr. Karlweiss (De Koven), and her husband Tom attacks Brunner. Unfortunately, Tom breaks his own leg. Later, as Tom is preparing to go to the doctor's office, Julie notices a ripped leather glove in his possession. Tom reveals that pressure from a failed deal at work has caused him to have a breakdown. He admits that he got drunk and snapped, and it was he who attacked her. Julie goes to the police and tells them they got the wrong man as Tom lunges to stop her but fails.

Loretta Burns (Shane) is under the mistaken impression that her husband Frank (Conte) is really a former engineer. Frank is actually a hit man who is being extorted by newspaper man Cullen (Harris) for over $40,000. Frank calls his former boss Nicholson (Anderson) for help ("an engineer") regarding the blackmail situation. Nicholson sends Mace (Carlyle) to help Frank make it look like Cullen drowns, but Mace is actually working with Cullen, who had called Nicholson first. When Cullen threatens to tell Loretta about Frank's past, Frank drowns both Mace and Cullen. Hearing the news, Nicholson shows up at Frank's lakeside home and insists that Frank return to work. He tells Frank that if he doesn't, his wife may end up getting rubbed out.

London. A lawyer (Parker) helps a man named Captain Morgan (Kendall) hire a private detective named Frute (Barker) in order to spy on his wife (Walsh). Morgan is convinced that his wife, a hotel waitress, is cheating on him. As Frute starts following Mrs. Morgan, pretending to be a hotel waiter, he finds that Mrs. Morgan, rather than cheating, only spends time with her friend and fellow waitress Gladys (Duxbury). Frute begins to fall for her, while Mrs. Morgan feels sad for him and is suspicious of him, having seen him following her and Gladys. They talk of her failed relationship with Captain Morgan and the Captain's extreme jealousy. The two begin an affair, though Mrs. Morgan does not know he was hired to spy on her. Later, Captain Morgan demands evidence of his wife's infidelity. When pressed by the lawyer, Frute gives Captain Morgan detailed descriptions of his own meetings with Mrs. Morgan. Angrily, Morgan issues divorce papers to a process server (Selby), thusly clearing the way for a loving relationship between Frute and Mrs. Morgan, as Frute admits the entire truth to the future Mrs. Frute.

While passing a construction site, a young man (Dunne) is hit on the head when a workman drops a board (Romano) and gets amnesia while an old woman (Nesmith) discusses a similar situation from her past. He can't remember who he is or where he was going, so he sits on a park bench while talking with a local named Cyrus Rutherford (Helton), who takes him to a local bar. The bartender, Jimmy (Remsen), isn't very friendly, as Cyrus has no money, but Cyrus tries to help the amnesiac remember his identity while running up the man's alcohol bill. The only clues he finds in his wallet: a thousand-dollar bill and a slip of paper with the name and address of Dr. Ralph Mannick. With only the thousand-dollar bill, the man cannot pay the tab, leading the owner, Ben (Lukas), to kick him out. He visits Mannick (Marlowe), but the doctor and his nurse, Miss Sherman (Hale), don't recognize him. The doctor suggests that something familiar may trigger his memories to return. He sees a picture of the doctor's wife and wonders whether he has a wife of his own. His memory returns when he goes to get on the elevator, and he realizes that the thousand dollars was from the doctor's wife. He's a hitman and she hired him to kill her husband, so he visits the doctor again and fulfills his contract.

Charlie Marx (Redford) is a burglar who one day kills a police officer in a shootout after robbing a jewelry store of $1,500, and Charlie himself is shot in the left leg. A police officer (Remsen) questions a witness (Kates). Charlie visits Dr. Vogel (Clarke), who prescribes pain killers and wraps Charlie's leg, as the bullet passed through. When he goes to the drug store, he hears his own description on the drug store's radio. Charlie impatiently attempts to hide his appearance while the clerk, Vernon (Baker), talks with customers Mr. Grissom (Swoger) and police sergeant Tommy (Karnes). The pharmacist, Mr. Fletcher (Collins), doesn't realize Charlie is the murderer and gives him the painkillers. Meanwhile, a police lieutenant (Calder) works to get Lassiter to identify the killer through mugshots. Later Charlie returns to his apartment but doesn't take the pain killers. He wants to stay alert in case he has to make a run for it. He decides to skip town and heads for the bus station. As he's leaving for the bus station, he sees Vernon. Thinking that Vernon knows that he is a criminal, he shoots him and leaves. Mr. Fletcher is called to identify Vernon. When he arrives, he reveals that he sent Vernon to Charlie's because he made a mistake in his prescription. Instead of giving him painkillers, he gave him a bottle of poison.

Supporting Cast: Gage Clarke as Dr. Emmet Vogel, Russell Collins as Mr. Fletcher, Bernard Kates as George Lassiter (the witness), Harry Swoger as Mr. Grissom, King Calder as Police Lieutenant, Robert Karnes as Tommy the Police Sergeant, Bert Remsen as Pete the Police Officer, Gail Bonney as Miss Lewis the Drugstore Customer (uncredited)

Millie Wright is arrested for the murder of her husband. She is later released for lack of evidence. Millie's neighbor Sarah Hale and the sheriff's wife Mary Peters decide to do some investigating on their own. They find evidence that Millie is the murderer, but they also discovered that Millie's husband was a violent brute who probably deserved what he got. Instead of turning in the evidence, the two decide to say nothing.

Elisa Minden begins to have second thoughts about marrying Sir Humphrey J. Orford. She has these second thoughts because he took her to his wife's grave and talked about torture as a way of purifying those guilty of infidelity. After she is married, Elisa's worst fears come true when Humphrey is found stabbed to death by Humphrey's first wife who is not dead. She was locked up in his study and had been kept there for years. She is now insane and could not call for help because Humphrey had cut out her tongue for adultery.

Bart Conway is a struggling actor with a bad temper and a drinking problem. He finds himself competing with a fellow actor Jerry Lane for the part of a strangler in an upcoming mystery. He invites Jerry over to his apartment for a little rehearsing. Bart gets a little too into character and chokes Jerry to death. To cover up his crime, he chops up the body and dissolves most of it in acid but is interrupted. A police lieutenant stops by to question him about Jerry's disappearance, but initially finds nothing amiss. As he leaves, he notices Bart's ice bucket which contains Jerry's undissolved head.

Sergeant Shaw (Larch) works the night shift at a police station when he is approached by an old man, Leonard Eldridge (Rains), who is suffering from amnesia. A lost boy, Mickey Hollins (Mumy), then appears. Shaw tries to send the man to a hospital and the boy to home. Both, however, refuse to go. Eventually more people arrive. Each person is lost in one way or another. Eventually Shaw manages to clear out everyone but the boy and the old man. The boy reveals that his father left him at the police station so that he would be sent to a home. When he hears this, the old man's memory returns. He is wealthy and has lost his family. He lives all alone in an enormous mansion. Shaw urges the old man to adopt the boy so that both of them can have a family.

Psychiatrist Dr. Cooper employs Maude Sheridan who falls for a crook named Jimmy French. French convinces her to allow him to look at Dr. Cooper's private files. He wants to blackmail one of his patients. French picks the file of M.J. Harrison. He discovers that Harrison had an affair with a woman named Diana. French approaches Harrison and demands money. Harrison agrees, but kills French instead. Dr. Cooper tells Maude the bad news about French. He then reveals that Harrison never had an affair. It was all the product of his disturbed mind. He believed the delusion so strongly, however, he was willing to kill to protect it.

Reverend Otis Jones (Blackmer) is a faith healer who stops at a service station to get his car repaired. The station's owner Aaron Menefee (Prine) is an honest man who impresses the reverend so much that he agrees to cure his ulcer. Aaron becomes attracted to Rev. Jones's daughter Emily. He quits his job and joins the reverend's revival show. Aaron wants to marry Emily, but the reverend does not give his permission. The reverend does not believe Aaron's faith in him is strong enough for him to marry his daughter. Later the revival returns to Aaron's town. Aaron discovers that the town doctor is being held by two hoodlums, one of whom is injured. Aaron believes that this is a test of faith. He calls for Reverend Jones to cure the injured man. The hoodlums warn that Jones will be killed if his faith healing does not work. The result in never shown, but Aaron wins either way. Either the faith healing works and Aaron's faith is demonstrated, or the faith healing fails and Jones is killed. In either case, it seems that Aaron will be free to marry Emily.

After killing a gas station attendant in a robbery attempt, a wounded Ray Bardon stops a girl named Lisa and demands to be driven to safety. Lisa realizing that her life is in danger agrees. As she drives, Ray falls asleep. Suddenly the car gets a flat tire. Instead of making an escape, Lisa changes the tire. Later the two stop at a hotel. Ray wonders about the girl's loyalty and asks why she didn't run and go to the police. As he talks, Lisa manages to get his gun. She reveals that the gas station attendant was her fiancée and that she didn't leave because she was waiting for an opportunity to kill Ray.

Pedro Siqueros fakes paralysis after a train wreck in order to collect a huge insurance settlement. After collecting the money he doesn't want to stay in the wheelchair. He meets a young girl named Maria who is really paralyzed. He discovers that she has been going to a nearby holy shrine for years hoping for a cure. Pedro gets an idea. He visits the shrine and begins to pray. On the fifth day of his prayer he stands and pretends to be healed. After he stands, his legs collapse. He discovers that he is now paralyzed for real. At the same time, some distance away, Maria is cured.

Vernon Wedge is an attorney who is approached by the father of Benjy Marino. Benjy is accused of stabbing another boy with a knife. Vernon decides to take the case, but his case for the defense seems hopeless until he discovers a special test that can determine if a knife blade ever had blood on it. He tries to conduct the test in court, but the prosecution resists. Even without the test, however, Vernon manages to get Benjy off. Later, Vernon decides to conduct the test in order to determine whether Benjy was really innocent. Before he can conduct the test Benjy's father arrives and cuts himself with the murder weapon. By doing so, he prevents Vernon from ever knowing the truth about the case.

Harrison Fell is an ad executive that needs to come up with an ad campaign to sell the 801 Burglar-Proof safe. Harrison invites the press and a notorious safe-cracker Sammy Morrisey to a gala ball. He challenges Sammy to open the safe in less than three hours. If Sammy can do it, he can keep an envelope containing $50,000 dollars that is being kept within the safe. If he can't, then he gets some consolation prize. Initially Sammy is reluctant. He has given up on safe-cracking and is trying out a new profession. Eventually, he agrees. At the party, Harrison puts the envelope in the safe and locks it. Sammy is given three hours, but he fails to open the safe. He is given the consolation prize. Harrison is pleased since his advertising plan is a success. Later, however, he opens the safe and discovers that the envelope contains worthless paper and no money. Sammy pulled a switch. His new profession is as a pick-pocket.

Dora baby-sits for a wealthy F. Hubert Fellowes. She plans to rob him with her boyfriend Mike and his buddy Gino. The three carry out the robbery, but as they are about to leave Fellowes returns and tries to stop them. He is shot and killed. The three make off with $32,000. A hitman named Murphy tracks them down and kills them. Fellowes was a big-time gangster and the mob sent out a hitman for revenge.

On Miles Cheever's last day of work, he is given a retirement party. When he comes home, his wife tells him that he deserved more for fifteen years. Miles agrees and that night goes to office and robs the safe. Intending to leave his wife, he heads to the airport where he is met by his girlfriend. A stewardess, however, tells Miles to put his suitcase in a rear storage compartment. Though the suitcase contains the money from the office, Miles reluctantly agrees. Later, as he waits on the plane, he learns that a bomb threat has been called in. Since the police are searching the bags, he worries that he will be caught. What he doesn't realize is that his wife called in the bomb threat. She knew he was having an affair and called in the threat so that he'd get caught.

Claude is cheating on his wife Clara with Clara's best friend Margo. Since Clara has been having problems with Claude, Clara asks Margo for advice. She wonders whether she should have made Claude the president of the company she owns. Margo tells Claude that his wife is going to divorce him. Since he will be left broke after a divorce, Margo suggests that Claude kill his wife. Claude tries to, but has second thoughts. Later he tells Margo that he will hire someone to do it. Margo decides to kill Clara herself. She offers Clara poisoned laced tea. Clara drinks it and dies. A man named Weeks arrives and Margo pretends to be Clara in an effort to get rid of him. The man says he is here to collect an envelope with two thousand dollars in it. She gets the envelope and he then kills Margo thinking she was Clara. Weeks was the hitman hired by Claude to kill his wife. The two thousand dollars was his payment.

Marvin Foley is trying to arrange a burial for his late partner. He approaches a mortician, Amos Duff, and asks for advice. Since Amos's business is in need of money, he recommends the costly Class A service. Marvin, however, rejects the idea preferring a cremation without the Class A treatment. Later Amos discovers signs of foul play in the death of Marvin's partner. He approaches Marvin who agrees to buy a Class A funeral if Amos keeps his mouth shut. After the cremation, Marvin refuses to pay and tells Amos that nothing can be done since all the evidence was just destroyed. Amos, however, has kept one crucial piece of evidence: the fire-proof hunting bullet Marvin used to commit murder.

Boxing manager Arthur Duffy is offered a powerful drug by a shady character named Boots Murphy. Boots tells him it is a drug used on race horses to turn losers into winners. Arthur decides to use the drug on one of his washed up fighters named Soldier Fresno. After Soldier is injected with the drug, he starts to win. Arthur and Boots begin to rake in the money. Soon Soldier gets a bout with the champion. Before the fight, however, Boots tells Arthur that he only has two more doses of the drug. Determined to win the fight, Arthur injects Soldier with both doses. Unfortunately the overdose causes Soldier to believe that he is already in the ring. He springs up and starts fighting. He beats Arthur to death.

Alan Chatterton, an unsuccessful writer, sends successful author Ralston Temple a letter along with three sample chapters from his novel in progress. Alice, Temple's secretary, convinces her boss that the chapters are good and that he should meet the writer and perhaps give him money to finish his book. Temple agrees to meet Chatterton, but finds him an obnoxious boor. Nevertheless he gives him a six month loan. Six months later, Temple continues to fund Chatterton even though the book is not completed. Chatterton shows up again and asks for a thousand dollars so he can get married. Temple gives into the request, but later finds Chatterton partying in an expensive restaurant. Temple confronts Chatterton and rips up their contract. He then goes on vacation. Later, Alice tells Temple that Chatterton has finished his book. It is a best-seller and is going to be made into a movie. Temple shows up at a store where Chatterton is autographing his book. To Temple's surprise, Chatterton gives him an autographed copy of his book plus all the money he owed him with interest.

Ned Malley loves his old dog Annie, a Kerry Blue. Ned's wife Thelma grows jealous. Though she likes the dog, she thinks her husband's love for it is unhealthy. One day, Annie dies. Ned accuses his wife of murder. He slips an overdose of sleeping pills into her hot chocolate. As she slips into unconsciousness, Ned hears familiar barking. He goes to investigate, but trips and fatally injures himself. A neighbor calls the police who come and revive Thelma. As her dead husband is being taken away, she wonders whether she should have bought him a new Kerry Blue.

A jeweler sells a $5000 black pearl left with him by Captain McCabe. He then cheats McCabe out of some of the money owed to him. Hubert Wilkens, the pearl's buyer, asks the jeweler for a second matched pearl. The jeweler returns to McCabe. McCabe can provide one, but since he has been cheated he demands more money. Figuring that he can charge Wilkens a much larger amount, the jeweler agrees. Unfortunately the jeweler discovers that he has been conned. McCabe and Wilkens were working together. The jeweler bought the same pearl twice.

Fred Riordan is a recent parolee who vandalizes the window of a bar and gets himself thrown back into prison. The prison warden, who is also running for governor, and the prison doctor believe Fred is simply afraid to cope with the outside world. They question Fred to find out why. Fred tells them that upon his release from prison he went to his old neighborhood but found little or no welcome. He neglects to mention that a mobster named Tony Wando has hired him to kill a former partner of his, a man now behind prison walls (Wando has damning evidence of Fred's guilt in an old unsolved murder.) Warden Bragan feels sorry for Fred and promises to make him a personal trustee. This is ideal for Fred, since it is Warden Bragan himself who is the target of Wando's outrage.

In college, Dave Sumner was voted most likely to succeed. Nowadays, however, he has had a run of bad luck. He takes a job from Stanley Towers, a shady businessman. Stanley's business is being investigated by the government. At a meeting with the IRS, however, Stanley is shocked to discover that Dave is really an undercover Treasury Department agent. He only pretended to be down on his luck so he could get the goods on Stanley's shady business dealings.

While on their honeymoon, Joe and Madeline Drake get into an accident that leaves him with a bad leg and her with painful headaches. Later, Joe discovers that Madeline's old boyfriend Ralph Morrow sent her an expensive wedding present. When Ralph shows up at their house, Joe become paranoid. He is worried that Ralph is responsible for a number of butcher knife murders that have been occurring in their neighborhood. Joe goes to search for his wife, as does Ralph. Meanwhile, Madeline is walking home. She hears someone behind her. She ducks into an alley but is followed. Joe arrives on the scene only to discover Madeline standing over Ralph's bloody corpse. She confesses to her husband that she thought someone was following her and killed to protect herself. She then admits that it has happened three times before when her headaches struck.

Herbert J. Wiggam (York) works at an investment firm for Sylvester Tupper (Holmes). Tupper treats him employees like slaves. Knowing that a $565,000 bond is about to arrive, Herbert and two other disgruntled employees decide to steal it. The plan to hide the bonds in the garbage can until the police leave. The plan goes awry, however, when one of the policemen (Romano) knocks over the garbage can. The plot is not foiled, however. An old cleaning lady (O'Malley) arrives just in time to scoop up the papers and takes them out with the trash. Later, Herbert arrives at the airport. He is headed for South America. He arrives with the cleaning lady who is, in fact, his mother.

Frankie Fane is an American gangster hiding from United States law enforcement in Italy. He is wanted by U.S. officials because he used to sell drugs to schoolchildren. At the suggestion of an American tourist named Ainsley Crowder, Frankie visits some tourist sites outside Rome, including an old Etruscan town named Alda Antica. While on a tour, the children of the village outside Alda Antica rob him. They then toss him into a deep pit to slowly die. The Department of Justice have tracked Fane to Rome, and requests that Italian police locate the fugitive. An Italian investigator enlists Crowder's help and they manage to trace Frankie to the village. When they discover that he has vanished, they decide to give up the search, thinking that justice has not been served.

Edward Gibson, a recent divorcee, must make alimony payments of $2000 every month. One day, an art gallery owner arrives at his house to present him with a portrait of his ex-wife that she had previously commissioned for $2500. Edward throws him out without paying him, but keeps the painting. Later, Carl Seabrook arrives and tells Edward that he will marry his ex-wife whom he has been romancing if Edward gives him $10,000. If Gloria is married, Edward will not have to pay alimony. Edward accepts the offer and pays Carl $5000 upfront. Later that day, Edward heads over to his ex-wife's house. He wants to give her her painting as a wedding gift. At his ex-wife's apartment building, he learns that she died of a heart attack earlier that morning, and that Carl was with her at the time. It was only after Gibson's ex-wife died that Carl approached him with his offer. Cheated out of $5000, Edward angrily calls Carl only to be told that he has left town going on a first class honeymoon with his own stunning new wife.

Mitch and Judy are out-of-work beatniks in need of money. At a party held by one of Mitch's friends Bruce, Judy meets an older man named Kenneth. Kenneth is not a beatnik, but he likes to attend their parties. He asks Judy on a date. Mitch encourages Judy to date Kenneth because he seems to have money. Kenneth gives Judy a diamond bracelet which Mitch takes and tries to sell to a jeweler. The jeweler has Mitch arrested. It seems that the bracelet Kenneth gave to Judy was in fact stolen. With Mitch in prison, Kenneth, who is actually a beatnik-hater, stabs Judy to death in her apartment.

Caroline Hardy keeps house for her famous brother, the actor Collin Hardy. Disappointed in her own life, she seeks escape by increasing her involvement in her brother's career. When Caroline learns through subterfuge that Collin's girlfriend will be joining him in their acting troupe's out-of-town rehearsals, Caroline hatches a plot in a jealous rage. The result of that rage is an explosion of house painting fluids that renders Collin blind. Caroline tries to act the part of the comforter, also encouraging her brother not to dwell on the supposed loss of his good looks.

Hugo is a mentally challenged boy without a home. He is taken in by a kind carnival magician Sadini. Sadini's deceitful wife, Irene, performs in her husband's act as the woman whose body is, supposedly, sawed in half. Irene manipulates Hugo into killing her husband. She says she wants to start a new act with Hugo and convinces him that he can perform the sawing the woman in half trick because the magic is in the wand. Hugo kills Sadini for her, but then she backs out on her promise. Hugo knocks out Irene in a struggle. He then decides to attempt the trick and ends up actually sawing Irene in half.

Supporting Cast: Edwin Rochelle as Show Spectator (uncredited), Joe Garcio as Show Spectator (uncredited), Charles Perry as Show Spectator (uncredited)

A gambler ends up putting his life at stake when he wins $30,000 from an ex-hood.

An undergraduate medical student at a college campus thinks that she will be the victim of a ritualistic murder.

A man blackmails a couple with the intention of telling their adopted daughter about her biological parents.

A mystery novelist is accused of going through a stop sign, then hitting a young motorcyclist.

A publisher suspects the latest book of a renowned mystery author to be all too real.

An apprentice nun tracks down the robber who stole a priceless figurine that she was entrusted to bring to her convent.

Chemist David Kelsey (Stockwell) lusts and solicits romance from a married woman, Annabel Delaney (Oliver), despite her constant objections and rejections. When she actually offers to meet him for a weekend outing as a friend, he declines as he always visits his father on weekends. However, Delaney discovers in Kelsey's personnel records that his parents are dead, so she follows him on the weekend to a cabin retreat. There, she discovers that not only has Kelsey committed the same aspersions towards another woman, but that he has killed her (and her boyfriend) and staged her body, all the while talking to her as if she was still alive.

John Mitchell (Carey) and his wife Sally (McCay) get more than they bargained for when they offer Ray Roscoe (Sterling) a fresh start in return for saving their son Tony (Mumy) from drowning. Rather than accept basic financial help to start an orange grove, Roscoe overstays his welcome and flirts with the young maid Kira (Rand), stages an automobile accident with a vacationing tax official (Swenson), attempts a marital indiscretion with the official's wife (Mara), and fakes his death with multiple accomplices (Armstrong) to obtain a financial settlement through extortion.