Gerald Stanley (John Gilbert) is an English gentleman who is engaged to Beatrice Joyce (Alma Frances). Stanley's personality changes whenever he drinks, and his brother (who also loves Beatrice) uses this to his advantage. After Stanley's latest blackout, his brother informs him that Stanley killed Beatrice's brother. The horrified Stanley flees from England and goes to live in Quebec. Once sober, Stanley stays away from liquor until he receives word that Beatrice has married his brother. The news sends him on a drinking spree and once again he turns beastly.

In a saloon he gets in a fight and kidnaps Elizabeth Gordon (Norma Shearer), a respectable young girl who has wandered off from her father during a trip through the woods. Stanley takes Elizabeth to his shack, where he tries to force himself on her. His pursuers are closing in so he leaps in a canoe for a wild ride down the rapids. This sobers him up and, mortified by his actions, he apologizes profusely to Elizabeth. When she sees the real Stanley, she falls in love with him, and later on he receives word that Beatrice's brother was never killed.

The play focuses on two lonely, middle-aged people whose first date ends with their tumbling into bed. The two are in her one-room walk-up apartment in the west side of Manhattan. Johnny (originated by F. Murray Abraham), a short order cook, is in good physical condition; but Frankie (originated by Kathy Bates), a waitress, is frumpy, fat, and emotionally defined by her unattractiveness. Johnny is certain he has found his soul mate in Frankie. She, on the other hand, is far more cautious and disinclined to jump to conclusions and at first has written off the encounter as a one night stand. As the night unfolds, they slowly begin to reveal themselves to each other as they take tentative steps towards the possible start of a new relationship. Describing the scene from which the play gets its name, David Finkle wrote, "Johnny calls the radio station to request the most beautiful music ever written... Claude Debussy's "Clair de lune"... floats onto the night air... Johnny, buoyant with love, beckons Frankie to join him at the window and to bask... in the clair de lune. It's a lovely moment..."Finkle, David. [http://www.theatermania.com/new-york-city-theater/reviews/08-2002/frankie-and-johnny-in-the-clair-de-lune_2454.html "Reviews. 'Frankie and Johnny in the 'Clair de Lune'"] theatermania.com, August 8, 2002

After graduating from Pacific Night Law School in Los Angeles, feisty and ambitious Mexican American Johnny Ramirez loses his first court case because he is ill-prepared. His poor, Hispanic client's truck was destroyed by careless debutante Dale Elwell. Johnny is harassed by the opposing attorney, uppercrust Brook Manville, who is defending his lover, Elwell. Johnny reacts, losing his temper and the case. Disbarred for his actions, he journeys to a small town south of the border and finds work as a bouncer, in a seedy casino owned by Charlie Roark. Johnny helps transform the dive into a first-class nightclub called the Silver Slipper that attracts an upscale crowd, and Charlie makes him a partner to reward him for his efforts.

Charlie's lonely, unhappily married wife Marie makes a play for Johnny, who resists her advances. Certain Johnny has shunned her simply because she is married, she locks her inebriated husband in the garage and leaves the car running, asphyxiating him.

Dale Elwell and her society friends, including Brook Manville, visit the club and Johnny becomes infatuated with her. A jealous Marie accuses Johnny of murdering Charlie, but when called to testify at his trial, she collapses on the witness stand, having become insane. Johnny returns to Los Angeles and proposes to Dale, who contemptuously rejects him, citing the dramatic differences in their ethnic and economic backgrounds, then is hit and killed by a car trying to get away from him. Johnny decides to sell the Silver Slipper, donate the proceeds to a law school, and settle in Los Angeles among his own people.

On a cold winter's night outside Happy's Nightclub, Irish-American police officer Ryan (Robert Emmett O'Connor) chats with African-American doorman Tim Washington (Clarence Muse), who is worried about his critically ill wife. Inside, club owner Happy (Boris Karloff) is arguing with his shrewish but glamorous wife Jill (Dorothy Revier) and welcoming frequent customers Ed Powell (George Raft), a crooked gambler, and Michael Rand (Lew Ayres). Rand is a wealthy college boy who watched his mother kill his father after catching him with another woman, a case widely covered by the tabloids. Rand is now drinking heavily to deaden his pain.

Backstage, gambler Powell asks chorus girl Ruth Taylor (Mae Clarke) for a date and, after losing an impromptu bet, she agrees to go out with him. After the floor show, all the chorus girls are asked to stay late by their cruel dance master, Klauss (Russell Hopton), who is secretly having an affair with Happy's wife Jill.

Edith Blair (Dorothy Petersen) spots a drunken Michael Rand sitting alone at a table. Edith was the 'other woman' in the murder of Michael's father. She tells Michael that she and his father were only good friends, and that his father loved him deeply. She also tells Michael that his killer mother never loved his father, and cursed him as he was dying. An upset Michael creates an outburst and overturns a table at the nightclub. He passes out after being punched, and is taken to the back room of the club where Ruth cares for him.

Happy leaves to discuss bootleg liquor purchases with another gangster, Jim. (Huntley Gordon.) As he exits, doorman Tim asks if he can leave early to visit is ailing wife, but Happy refuses.

When Michael wakes up from his liquor-related nap, he and Ruth have a warm chat. Gambler Powell interrupts them and insists Ruth come to his apartment immediately. Michael punches Powell and Tim takes the fallen gambler out to a taxi. Suddenly, Michael's mother (Hedda Hopper) arrives at the nightclub. Michael confronts her about the way she treated his father.

The late-night dance rehearsal continues, but Klauss calls a break so he can spend more time with Jill. Happy returns, and Tim asks again if he can go see his wife in the hospital. Happy refuses. Happy catches Jill and Klauss together, and Klauss leaves in disgrace. Happy tells Jill that he will not divorce her, but remain married to her and do his best to make her miserable.

Michael and Ruth sit down for a meal together. Michael asks Ruth if she would be interested in running away to Bali with him, as his wife, even though they have only known each other for a few hours. Their happy moment is interrupted by Tim, who has just learned that his wife is dead. As he leaves the club to finally go to her bedside, he is fatally shot by gangster Jim and a comrade, who have come for Happy. They shoot Happy and then his wife Jill. When they turn their guns towards Michael and Ruth, they are suddenly shot dead by the returning police officer Ryan. Michael and Ruth get into the police wagon together, and Ruth agrees to go Bali with Michael.

During a time of economic and political unrest and State-sponsored terrorism in Argentina in the mid-1970s, the students want reduced bus fares, so they take to the streets and protest in support of the ''boleto estudiantil'': the students' ticket. At first, under Isabel Perón's government they succeed, but their protests draw hostile attention from the ensuing military regime led by Jorge Rafael Videla, which overthrows Perón on March 24, 1976.

The dictatorship announces that the "leftist agitators" will not be tolerated by the new "government". The increasingly violent crackdown on student gatherings is demonstrated when the police break up a school dance brandishing guns. On September 16, six students of the city of La Plata are kidnapped in the middle of the night, and the police claims ignorance about their whereabouts. This is the actual event that will later be called "Night of the Pencils".

Pablo (Alejo García Pintos), the seventh member of the group, is abducted 5 days later by the police. He learns that his friends have been brutally tortured by governmental authorities and that he will receive the same treatment. The interrogators give him electric shocks while radio music and a pillow mask his cries.

Pablo is set free and tells the truth about the group's horrific story. However, his classmates were never found and became part of the thousands of ''desaparecidos'' of the dictatorship, who were kidnapped and never seen again.

The film opens with Dan Emmett (Crosby) and Jean (Marjorie Reynolds) seated beneath a spreading magnolia tree in the garden of her home while he sings 'Sunday, Monday or Always'. The house is seen on fire and though Dan rushes off to the fire-house for assistance it is burned down. Jean's angry father blames Dan for leaving his pipe in the hall and forbids Dan seeing his daughter again. Dan says that he wants to marry Jean after he has become successful as an actor and composer but Mason is so sure that Dan will fail he says that he will agree to the marriage if Dan returns successful within six months.

Dan leaves for New Orleans and on the river boat sings 'Swing Low, Sweet Chariot' and encounters another entertainer, Mr. Bones (Billy de Wolfe), who cheats him at cards and wins his 500 dollars. It is not until after Bones has left the boat that Dan discovers the cards are faked but he meets him again in New Orleans and demands the return of his money. Bones denies cheating but offers to put Dan in his act. Unable to pay for a meal they have in a restaurant they are assaulted and suffer black eyes. Bones takes Dan to the boarding house owned by Mr. Cook (Raymond Walburn) and his daughter Millie (Dorothy Lamour). Neither Bones nor two other boarders can pay the rent arrears demanded by Millie and she refuses to let Dan stay until Mr. Cook intervenes to tell Bones that the manager of the local Maxwell Theatre has said Bones could try out his act that evening. The other two boarders (Eddie Foy, Jr. and Lynne Overman) sing 'Laughing Tony' to Bones but he refuses to let them join his act. Dan reminds Bones of his promise that he should be in the act but Bones insists that his act is a single until Millie threatens to lock him in his room unless all four appear and she suggests that to cover their battered features they should use black make-up.

On stage the four sing 'Old Dan Tucker' and 'The Last Rose of Summer', introduce minstrel-style patter and Dan sings 'She's from Missouri'. They are successful and Millie becomes attracted to Dan who, however, tells her about Jean. The act continues to do well and is enlarged to a twenty-four artist minstrel show with Mr. Cook joining as the only white-faced member. Although Dan is also attracted to Millie he tells her he will remain loyal to Jean and Millie, in a fit of pique, agrees to marry Bones. The new minstrel show opens and the Company sings 'Minstrel Show' and 'Buffalo Gals', and Dan sings 'A Horse That Knows the Way Back Home'. At a celebration supper Dan and Millie make up their quarrel but the sound of firebells and a burning theatre, caused by Dan's pipe, puts them all out of a job.

Dan returns to his home-town and finds that Jean has been stricken with paralysis and will never walk again. He insists on going through with the marriage and they travel to New York. In New Orleans Bones again asks Millie to marry him and they learn that the Theatre will be repaired in three weeks’ time. When Dan sings his new song, 'If You Please', to Jean she suggests that he tries to sell his songs but a publisher refuses 'Dixie' when Dan sings it for him. He manages, however, to sell ten' other songs for 100 dollars but refuses to part with 'Dixie' when he is offered only one dollar for it. Mr. Cook arrives and tells Jean of Dan's success in New Orleans and inadvertently reveals the situation between Millie and Dan. Cook urges Dan to return to New Orleans and join a new show of forty artists and when Jean supports this plea Dan agrees. On their arrival in New Orleans Millie is still angry with Dan but realises the true situation when she sees that Jean is an invalid.

The new Minstrel Show is booked into the Opera House for three months but when 'Dixie' is sung by one of the minstrels it is not well received. Jean suggests that it should be played at a quicker tempo but Dan disagrees. Jean, under the impression that Dan is in love with Millie, tells her servant, Lucius (George H. Reed), to place a letter of farewell in Dan's dressing room. The show proceeds and Dan sings 'Sunday, Monday or Always' with the company. While the minstrels sing 'She's From Missouri' Millie, backstage, tells Bones that she will marry him that night and breaks the news to Jean. On stage, Dan and the company sing ‘Dixie' while his pipe, once again left lying around, starts a fire. As the tempo of the song speeds up, the entire audience joins in the rousing chorus and the fire burns Dan's dressing room and Jean's valedictory letter.

Gwen Harold, an American woman from Tennessee, meets Hidenari Terasaki (called Terry by his friends and family), the secretary to the Japanese ambassador, while attending a reception at the Japanese embassy in Washington D.C. with her Aunt Peggy and friend Bill. They share a moment while Terry is showing her the antique Japanese artworks on display in the embassy, and after some reluctance, she agrees to allow him to call on her.

They begin dating and they quickly fall in love, even though Terry occasionally has fits of anti-Western sentiment. When Terry asks her to marry him, she agrees, much to the chagrin of Aunt Peggy (who was raised in the Jim Crow South), and who sees the relationship as unnatural, especially when there are "nice clean young men" available. The Japanese ambassador also calls on Gwen and attempts to dissuade her from accepting, claiming that it would hurt Terry's career by giving him an American bias, and states that even though the two countries are friendly, anything could happen between foreign countries. He seems to hint at possible aggression in the future, even though it is only 1935 and the Japanese have not yet resumed conflicts with China, keeping the countries of Gwen and Terry at an uneasy peace. They eventually marry despite the obstacles and, when Terry is recalled, travel to Japan by ship.

Almost immediately after disembarking and arriving in Tokyo, Terry begins to treat Gwen much differently, expecting her to behave according to the male-centric beliefs of contemporary Japan, such as being silent among men, entering doors after the men and virtually bending to every whim of Terry and her male relatives. They continually fight and make up, mostly because of Gwen's outspokenness among men and Terry's strict adherence to the local customs.

After having a fight one night when a general says that Terry should be proud that he may have a son to die for the emperor, they make up and she reveals that she was so offended by the comment because she is pregnant. The baby daughter is named Mako.

By November 1941, Terry has been reassigned to the embassy in America. They have Thanksgiving dinner in Washington with Aunt Peggy, as World War II embroils the world around them and the U.S. is one of the few powers of the world still at peace. Terry speaks on the phone with his friend Haro. He mentions that Mako, now about five years old, has an apparent illness involving too many antibodies in her blood. He also mentions a possible upcoming invasion of Thailand by the Imperial Japanese Army.

Sensing that it may be the last chance for peace between the U.S. and the Empire of Japan, Terry attempts to go over the heads of his superiors and have a cable sent directly to President Roosevelt, alerting him to cable the Japanese emperor to seek to preserve the peace. However, the emperor is rapidly becoming the leader of Japan in name only because of a power struggle with the army leaders. Terry's effort is in vain, as December 7th comes and war is declared shortly after the Japanese attack.

Terry calls Gwen after hearing of the attack and tells her to leave Washington for Tennessee with Mako, but the FBI enter and force her to hang up the phone. She decides to accompany Terry back to Japan, as he is due to be deported in an ambassador exchange. A riot nearly occurs as she leaves with the other Japanese families, because of anti-Japanese fervor sweeping the nation in the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Philippines and other European and American-held colonies and bases in the Pacific and Asia.

In Japan, a similar nationalist anti-American hatred is present among the citizens. Terry is less enthusiastic about the war, and attempts to be a mediator for peace, which is dangerous because of the prevailing sentiment and the secret police. Gwen is briefly accosted by a group of soldiers, who try to force her to walk on an American flag. She refuses, and an air raid begins, causing panic in the streets as bombs begin to destroy the area. She sees a crying child and, remembering her daughter, runs to the smoldering school to rescue Mako, who says that children had hit her and called her an American.

Later, Terry reveals that he is under suspicion for being disloyal because he has an American wife, does not belong to any patriotic clubs, and speaks out against the war. Soldiers enter and search the house, and while they don't arrest him, it is clear that he and his family are going to have a rough time as long as they stay in Tokyo. They agree to stay at a friend's empty house outside of the city.

As they leave Tokyo, they run into Terry's cousin, Ishi, who has been one of the few people who has been kind to Gwen. Now a soldier, he informs them that he is captain in a ''kamikaze'' squadron, and will soon "die for a descendent of the sun-god." While taking a train, Gwen sees captured American soldiers, possibly on a death march. They arrive at their new home and meet the young girl who lives there. Terry reveals that he is going back to Tokyo, and that he did not tell her earlier because she would not have gone to stay without him. He offers to arrange her passage back to the U.S., but she refuses, wanting to be close to her husband.

As the war continues, food shortages and widespread damage make it clear that things are going against Japan. As the years go on, Terry visits less and less, and Mako grows up not knowing any other existence other than one of perpetual war. Terry returns after months and they enjoy a night's sleep together. They awaken to a visit from a military police officer, who is looking for Terry. As the war continues to turn against them, they begin to suspect disloyalty from anyone critical of the government. Gwen manages to convince them that she has not seen Terry, and they leave. Terry reveals that he has brought a radio, and an American news station announces the end of the Battle of Iwo Jima, which will be used as a base to launch bombers against mainland Japan. Later on, the surrender of Nazi Germany, Japan's main ally, is also announced, and it is clear that the invasion of Japan is coming soon.

Terry and Gwen have a fight one night because he gave away the last of their food. Gwen goes to the village to get her hair done to please her husband, and on her way home, she allows Mako to play in the village, but then a squadron of American bombers and fighters attack. The couple rush to find her, and amid the devastation of the village, they find Mako, alive and unhurt. However, her close friend has been hit and was killed instantly. At the burial, Gwen comments on Mako's jaded reaction, showing no tears or emotion for her friend, because of Japanese customs, as well as growing up during a war.

One night, Gwen visits Terry's old friend Hara, who has some power within the party, pleading for him to keep her husband safe. He introduces her to Tokyo Rose, a radio propaganda announcer who tries to lower the morale of enemy armies listening to her broadcasts. They agree to help Terry, but only if Gwen makes an anti-American speech on the radio, recognizing the propaganda value of an actual American denouncing her country. Gwen refuses, and learns that Ishi has been fatally injured and is in the hospital. She visits, and realizing that he is dying, she asks why he had sent his wife away. He reveals that it is because of tradition that he did not want his loved ones to see him die. She returns home in time to see Terry, who had been hiding in the hills to avoid arrest, return.

The next day, the entire village arrives at their house, as it is the only one with a radio, for the emperor's radio address. The emperor has never spoken in public before, so they realize he must have major news, possibly of a surrender. As the village listens to the emperor's voice for the first time, the speech starts:

We are fully aware of the innermost feelings of all of you, however, have resolved to pave the way for peace for all generations to come. By enduring the unendurable, and suffering what is insufferable, let the entire nation unite as one family, from generation to generation, and cultivate the ways of rectitude and nobility of spirit.|author=|title=|source=

With the war over, Terry asks Gwen to return to her home of Johnson City, Tennessee to put Mako in an American school while she is young and can lose her prejudices against America, to "become a bridge between the two nations." Gwen vehemently refuses to leave him. Later on, she finds Terry, who has been overworked, malnourished and ill for many months, standing over his parents' graves. She recalls a speech that he once gave her about visiting the graves of ancestors at times of marriage, birth, and death. She also recalls the conversation with Ishi at the hospital before his death when he said that he did not want his wife to see him die. She speaks to Terry's doctor and learns that he has, at most, months to live, and was trying to send his family away because, like his cousin, he didn't want them to see him die.

Days later, after Gwen agrees to Terry's final wish for her and Mako to depart for America, he sees her and their daughter off at the dock. They kiss and embrace for the last time, and Gwen reassures Terry that they will be expecting him soon, knowing that she will never see him again.

As the ship departs, Terry walks down the dock, keeping pace with it until he can go no further. The film ends with Gwen and Terry lovingly meeting each other's gaze for the final time. Gwen holds her composure until he is out of sight, and then breaks down and begins crying.

Jason learns that his cat, Gareth, is able to talk and has the power to travel to nine different points in world history (his "nine lives"). Jason convinces Gareth to take him along and their adventures begin where cats are considered divine, in Ancient Egypt in the year 2700 BC.

Subsequently, they visit Rome, where they are taken in by the Old Cats of Caesar. There, they are kidnapped to a village where Cerdric Longtooth, the chieftain of the village tries to burn him but his wife objects. Later on, the villagers find out about Gareth. They refer to Gareth as a "Catamountain." Jason takes this opportunity to pretend to be the beholder of the supposedly Ferocious beast. They later on become friends with the village and leave after another catamountain arrives. This time, with kittens. Later, they visit the United Kingdom (55 BC), Ireland (AD 411), Japan (998), Italy (1468), Peru (1555), the Isle of Man (1588), Germany (1600), and the United States (1775).

After nine episodes they return home. Gareth says he will never again speak to Jason, and he forbids Jason ever to mention their travels to anyone. It is not difficult for Jason to obey, since he doubts that anyone would believe his story. However, he has acquired an ankh pendant as a memento and he uses it to communicate with Gareth without talking.

A man walks along a deserted Berlin street at night and enters an internally lit phone box. He is shot dead by an unseen gunman. He is British secret agent Kenneth Lindsay Jones.

At lunch in an exclusive club in London, close to Buckingham Palace, the directors of an unnamed agency, Gibbs and Rushington, decide to send American agent Quiller to continue the assignment, which has now killed two agents. Quiller meets his controller for this mission, Pol, at Berlin's Olympia Stadium, and learns that he must find the headquarters of Phoenix, a neo-Nazi organization.

Quiller leaves the Konigshof Hotel on West Berlin's Kurfurstendamm and confronts a man who has been following him, learning that it is his minder, Hengel. Hengel gives Quiller the few items found on Jones: a bowling alley ticket, a swimming pool ticket and a newspaper article about a Nazi war criminal found teaching at a school. Quiller asks after Jones at the bowling alley without success and the swimming pool manager Hassler tells him spectating is not allowed.

Pretending to be a reporter, Quiller visits the school featured in the article. The headmistress introduces him to a teacher who speaks English, Inge Lindt. After the interview, he gives her a ride to her flat and stops in for a drink.

Quiller confronts a man who seems to be following him, revealing that he (Quiller) speaks German fluently. When Quiller returns to his hotel, a porter bumps Quiller's leg with a suitcase on the steps. Quiller drives off, managing to shake Hengel, then notices men in another car following him. Quiller becomes drowsy from a drug that was injected by the porter at the entrance to the hotel. When Quiller passes out at a traffic stop, the other car pulls alongside and abducts him.

Quiller awakes in a dilapidated mansion, surrounded by many of the previous incidental characters. They are all members of Phoenix, led by the German aristocrat code-named Oktober. Quiller avoids answering Oktober's questions about Quiller's agency, until a doctor injects him with a truth serum, after which he reveals a few minor clues. In a feint to see if Quiller will reveal more by oversight, Oktober decides to spare his life.

Quiller wakes up beside Berlin's Spree River. He steals a taxi, evades a pursuing vehicle and books himself into a squalid hotel. He calls Inge and arranges to meet. He first meets with Pol, who explains that each side is trying to discover and annihilate the other's base.

Quiller admits to Inge that he is an "investigator" on the trail of neo-Nazis. After they have sex, she unexpectedly reveals that a friend was formerly involved with neo-Nazis and might know the location of Phoenix's HQ. The friend proves to be Hassler, who is now much more friendly. Hassler drives them to meet an old contact he says knows a lot more, who turns out to be Inge's headmistress. She claims she turned in the teacher from the article, and points out the dilapidated Phoenix mansion.

When Quiller decides to investigate the building, Inge says she will wait for him, while Hassler and the headmistress leave one of their cars for them. Inge tells him she loves him, and he tells her a phone number to call if he is not back in 20 minutes.

Quiller enters the mansion and is confronted by Phoenix thugs. Oktober reveals they are moving base the next day and that they have captured Inge. Oktober demands Quiller reveal the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) base by dawn or Inge will be killed. Quiller is released. He walks down the same street where Jones was shot, but finds he is followed by Oktober's men. After being prevented from using a phone, Quiller makes a run for an elevated train, and thinking he has managed to shake off Oktober's men, exits the other side of the elevated station only to run into them again.

Quiller then returns to his hotel, followed by the men who remain outside. He notices the concierge is seated where he can see anyone leaving. Quiller slips out though a side door to the small garage yard where his car is kept. He finds that a bomb has been strapped underneath and sets it on the bonnet of the car so it will slowly slide and fall off due to vibration from the running engine. He manages to get over the wall of his garage stall as well as the adjoining one and then outside to the side of the building before detonation. He is shielded behind the building when the bomb explodes. The thugs believe him dead when they see the burning wreckage.

Quiller reaches Pol's secret office in Berlin, one of the top floors in the newly built Europa-Center, the tallest building in the city, and gives them the location of the building where he met Oktober. Pol dispatches a team to Phoenix's HQ, which successfully captures all of Phoenix's members. Quiller is surprised to learn that no women were found.

Quiller goes back to the school and confronts Inge in her classroom. She states that she "was lucky, they let me go" and claims she then called the phone number but it did not work. Quiller tells Inge that they got most, but clearly not all, of the neo-Nazis. Quiller continues his subtle accusations, and Inge continues her denial of ever meeting Jones. Quiller leaves, startling the headmistress on the way out.

It is 1974 and life is not easy for a Black man to find employment, even college-educated Jim Ellis. While struggling to find anything better, Jim, a former competitive swimmer, is working on the decrepit Marcus Foster Recreation Center in a poor neighborhood of Philadelphia. His job is to prepare the foreclosure of the Center, causing friction with Elston, the janitor whose job may disappear. The Center includes a dilapidated swimming pool, which Ellis rehabilitates. One day, Jim invites a group of black teens in for a swim. Andre, Hakim, Reggie, Puddin’ Head, and Walt prove to be fairly capable swimmers and with a few pointers, could become great swimmers. In parallel, Jim develops a romantic interest in Hakim's sister and guardian who wants him to attend school before pool.

With some help from Elston, Jim decides to try to save the swimming pool by starting the city's first all African-American swim team, the "PDR team" for both Pride, Determination, Resilience and Philadelphia Department of Recreation. Once they are joined by Willie, a female swimmer more talented than any of the boys, the prospects of competing against much more experienced white teams begin to improve.However, Black swimmers are not welcome everywhere and the team has to fight overtly racist opposition and treachery, which is what Jim already experienced when he was competing 10 years ago.Throughout their struggles in and out of the swimming pool, Jim and Elston encourage and mentor the kids, helping them not only to become successful at swimming but also in their struggles against prejudice, crime, and poverty.

The story "Rain, Rain, Go Away" concerns a seemingly perfect family, the Sakkaros, who become neighbors of another family, the Wrights. The Wrights are puzzled at the great lengths the Sakkaros go to avoid any contact with water, such as when Mrs. Wright tells her husband that Mrs. Sakkaro's kitchen was so clean, it seemed to be never used, and when she offered Mrs. Wright a glass of water she filled the glass carefully while covered with a napkin, but Mr. Wright chalks it up to Mrs. Sakkaro being a good neighbor. The only other odd fact about the home was that the family always seems to be tanning, but at the slightest chance of rain, they all rush inside the safety of their home. Mr. & Mrs. Wright see the study of the Sakkaro residence is filled with newspapers and encyclopedias, which Mr. Sakkaro explains is part of his research. Nor does the Wright know the ethnicity of their neighbors, with Mrs. Wright thinking it could be a Spanish name while Mr. Wright thinks "Sakkaro" sounds Japanese. The name "Sakkaro" is an apparent wordplay on ''saccharo-'', a combining form that means "sugar", by Asimov, who displayed a fondness for puns. To find out more about the Sakkaros the Wrights invite them out, and the Sakkaros pay for them all to go to a town carnival. The Sakkaros are extremely cautious and bring a radio with them that is tuned to the weather channel, and a barometer. At the carnival, they seem to have a good time with Mr. & Mrs. Wright and their son Tommie, but they display bizarre food choices, particularly nothing but cotton candy. Mr. Wright comments to his wife that he offered to buy Mr. Sakkaro a hamburger, who grimly refused, and Mrs. Wright also remarks that she had a similar reaction from Mrs. Sakkaro when she offered a soft drink. When their radio unexpectedly calls for rain, the Sakkaros appear to be in shock until they get to their house. When they pull up, it starts to drizzle, and the Sakkaros rush to get to the safety of their home. Mrs. Wright begins to say, "Honestly, George, you would think they were..." When the rain begins before they reach the Sakkaros' front door and they dissolve in the water. "... made of sugar and afraid they would melt." Mrs. Wright continues in horror.

The drama is set in a rural town in County Kerry, Ireland, that is overrun by a Hollywood film crew. The play centres around two friends, Charlie Conlon and Jake Quinn, employed as extras on the film. Charlie has aspirations to get his script made into a movie. Jake has recently returned from New York and is mesmerised, along with everyone else, by the star of the movie, Caroline. Caroline is a famous, beautiful American movie star that fails to ever successfully conquer the Irish accent. Caroline and the other American crew members do not attempt to accurately portray the town and people and only care about finishing the movie on time. Most of the locals are initially excited at the opportunity to be a part of a major film and distracted by the novelty. However, as the film continues they begin to feel abused and the glamour begins to wear off. After a night in the pub, a local teenager, Sean Harkin, is humiliated by Caroline and thrown out into the street for trying to socialise with her. The first act ends when Sean commits suicide by drowning himself with stones in his pockets. The second act continues the story with the town devastated by the loss. Jake begins to blame himself for not reaching out to the boy and Charlie tries to console him and let him not lose hope. Conflict arises when the film crew is hesitant about letting the extras have a break for Sean's funeral. It becomes even more apparent to the town that the film crew has their own agenda and no concern for the people. Jake and Charlie decide to rewrite Charlie's script and make it about Sean's story instead. They present their idea to the American director who in turn tells them the story is not romantic or commercial enough.

Lionel Lampson, a wealthy middle-aged bachelor and art collector, learns from a gossipy widow, Gladys Ponsonby, that his younger girlfriend Janet de Pelagia thinks of him, among other things, as a "crashing bore". Lionel is scandalised and devises an elaborate revenge. He approaches a local artist, John Royden, and asks him to paint Janet's portrait with the stipulation that she does not know who has commissioned it. Gladys had confided in Lionel that Royden has an unusual method: he paints his female subjects first nude, and then repaints the canvas several times, adding each layer of clothing one stage at a time.

When the portrait is completed, Lionel (who is skilled at restoring and cleaning paintings) removes the additional layers of paint, exposing Janet in her undergarments. He then stages a dinner party for Janet and some of society's elite, where, at the end of the candle-lit meal, the lights are suddenly turned on and the painting is revealed for all to see. Lionel leaves the room unobserved after he sees the shocked look on Janet's face. After hearing a guest roar for some water for Janet (implying that she has fainted), he slips away to his house in the country, basking in the success of his scheme until two days later, when he receives a telephone call from Gladys telling him he is now despised by all his former friends – except her.

But things get even worse: a few days later, Lionel receives a container of excellent caviar along with a letter from Janet, saying that she forgives him and still loves him. Lionel feels deeply ashamed. Not being able to resist his favorite food, he indulges himself and, by the end of the story, begins to feel violently ill. The implication is that Lionel has been poisoned, perhaps fatally, by Janet.

A drug deal gone bad results in biologically engineered marijuana being delivered to the Strip-O-Sauraus, a run-down strip club known for giant dinosaur statues in its parking lot. Club owner Ralph Vivino (Michael R. Thomas) is worried over its appearance, because if anything goes wrong at the club on his watch, his rival will take his job. Cockroaches fed on the tainted pot and mutate to become bloodthirsty, giving Ralph and the club’s dancers, Crystal (Misty Mundae), Teresa (Julian Wells), and Trix (Erika Smith) immediate problems as the bugs infest the club, sucking blood and causing mayhem. Ralph calls an ineffectual exterminator, "Buzz" O'Reilly (Rob Monkiewicz), who then enlists the help of Crystal who has received a nasty bug bite. Buzz's strongest chemicals cannot stop the carnivorous insects and the entire club falls under attack. A DEA agent arrives to destroy both the shipment and the mutated bugs, but unwittingly helps the bugs mutate further.

Mickey (Normand) is an adult orphan who has been raised since girlhood in poverty near Feather River, California, by an unsuccessful miner, Joe Meadows, and his housekeeper, Minnie. Mickey is the free-spirited, uncultured daughter of the miner's deceased partner. Meadows took charge of Mickey at his dying partner's request. Mickey is sent to live in Great Neck, Long Island—part of suburban New York City—with her aunt (Mrs. Geoffrey Drake) and her family. Mrs. Drake is under the impression that Mickey is wealthy and well refined. When Mickey arrives at her aunt's luxurious home, the aunt is disappointed that she is not well-to-do and puts her to work as a servant. Mickey's presence there sparks an awkward love triangle involving her, her cousin (Elsie Drake), and young mining executive Herbert Thornhill (Wheeler Oakman) whom Mickey first encountered in California. Just after Mickey is sent packing, a telegram arrives for her announcing that a vein has been struck on Joe's Tomboy mine and she is suddenly worth millions. Mrs. Drake's opinion of Mickey changes quickly and she is welcomed back—in the hope she and Mrs Drake's feckless son, Reggie, will become a couple. Herbert had recently proposed to Elsie, but realizes he truly loves Mickey. Shortly afterward, Herbert receives a telegram from his lawyer, Tom Rawlings, explaining that his mining claims are now invalid and thus worthless. Elsie and Mrs. Drake find the telegram and call off the wedding because Herbert is now bankrupt. Herbert tries to regain his fortune by borrowing $5,000 and betting it on a horse race. The race is rigged—and Mickey finds out about the plot. Just as the race is about to begin, Mickey dresses in jockey silks, unhorses the crooked jockey, and tries to win the race by riding it for Herbert. Just as it appears Mickey's horse will win, she falls from her mount. Some time later Mickey reluctantly goes horseback riding with Reggie who tries to molest her in an abandoned house. Herbert arrives on the scene, battles Reggie, and rescues Mickey as she is dangling dangerously from the rooftop. Mickey and Herbert are married. As they depart on their honeymoon, a note arrives from lawyer Rawlings explaining the earlier telegram about his mining interests being worthless was a ruse designed to get Herbert out of his loveless engagement to Elsie Drake. The film ends with both Mickey and Herbert happily in love, wed, and exceedingly wealthy.

A group of American pilots from Alaska ferry Airacobra fighter planes across the ocean on Lend-lease. The orderly course of life is disrupted when it becomes clear that the American pilots are attractive and charming young women. The feelings of the Russian young men collide with cultural and language barriers resulting in a host of awkward, funny, and sometimes tragic situations.

This film is a false documentary about a fictional, top-secret Soviet Interkosmos space mission based in East Germany. Two ships are sent out to set up both an industrial colony on Saturn's moon Titan and a recreational colony on Jupiter's moon Ganymede. The film covers the background of the mission, as well as several radio conversations between the leaders of the two separate colonizing missions, the female Seagull and the male Falcon, who are implied to be in a romantic relationship. Besides colonizing the two moons, part of the mission is also to set up an archive of Socialist culture within the vacuum of space. For reasons not explained within the film, the mission fails, and all records of it are either destroyed or hidden away. However, the last scene reveals Seagull and Falcon to be still alive, as they converse about other failed secret Soviet space missions, most of which resulted in the demise of the entire crew.

The film continues directly where ''The Adventures of Barry McKenzie'' ended with Barry McKenzie (Barry Crocker) and his aunt Edna returning home to Australia from England.

During the flight two henchmen of Count Plasma (Donald Pleasence) (a Dracula-type Minister of Culture from the People's Republic of Transylvania) mistake Edna for the Queen of the United Kingdom and kidnap her during their brief stopover in Paris, believing that she will draw tourists to their country.

It is then up to Barry, his identical twin brother the Reverend Kevin McKenzie, his Parisian expatriate Aussie friend "Col the Frog" (Dick Bentley) and his other expatriate mates in France and England to head a team of Australian agents to be parachuted into Transylvania and rescue Edna.

Barry and Edna return home to Australia and are greeted by Gough Whitlam and his wife. Whitlam makes Edna a dame.

Criminal Nick Darrow goes undercover to get the gangsters who killed his father. He teams up with Lora, the sister of Jimmy, a man who was killed by the same people.

Rising boxer Jimmy Kane is sent from New York City to the Rosario Ranch and Hot Springs in New Mexico to regain his health after spending too much time with women and drink. There he meets young widow Peggy Harmon and her son Dickie. She eventually falls in love with him, and he likes her too. When Jimmy finds out that she will have to cut short her son's treatment because she will not receive an insurance payout, Jimmy takes on a tough fight in Tijuana to raise the $600 she needs. The marks on his face show Peggy where the money came from.

Jimmy returns to New York. After one fight, he is introduced by Roger Elliot to flighty, flirty socialite Joan Gibson. He soon falls for her, and he mistakes her interest in him as love. When Pop Slavin, Jimmy's manager, arranges for him to fight for the lightweight championship, Jimmy turns it down. Instead, he secretly goes to a plastic surgeon to have his nose and cauliflower ear fixed after Joan remarks that he would almost be handsome if it were not for those features. He gets etiquette lessons from Forbes. When he springs his surprise on Joan, she is not amused. She complains to a friend that he is no longer different and colorful.

Jimmy has Pop set up fights with lesser foes. He changes his style, boxing rather than punching, to avoid risking damage to his new face. The fans boo him. Meanwhile, Pop sends for Peggy. Jimmy has to tell her that he is seeing someone else.

Joan's butler tells Jimmy that she is not home, but he bursts in on her party. He tells her that he will fight one last time, for the championship, after which - win or lose - they will get married. He sends her ringside tickets.

The night of the fight, Jimmy is concerned when he does not see Joan there. He sends Rosebud to call and find out where she is. After one round, in which Jimmy once again avoids contact, Rosebud reports that Joan is leaving on an ocean liner in about twenty minutes. Jimmy attacks furiously and knocks out the champion. Then he takes a taxi to the pier. When he finds Joan, she lies and tells him that her sister needs her, but when Roger Elliot enters the cabin, it all becomes clear. Jimmy punches Roger and kicks Joan when she bends over Roger's unconscious body. Jimmy then proposes to Peggy.

A professor tires of the direction his life is going and wants to move west, but his girlfriend doesn't understand why he is so dissatisfied.

Arriving in a small town Rossmore, Illinois by train, college professor Casanova Brown is met by his socialite girlfriend Madge Ferris and tells her not to bring up his trip to New York, where he was trying, unsuccessful, to publish a book about the notorious 18th-century womanizer, Casanova.

Cas decides to ask Madge to marry him, even though her father J.J. warns him against it, saying Madge is nothing but trouble. Just before the wedding, Cas leaves town because of a letter from a Dr. Martha Zernecke summoning him to a Chicago maternity hospital, but promises to be back in time for the wedding. About the letter and what he believes is behind it, Cas tells J.J. of his New York experience with Isabel Drury, of how they fell in love and decided to wed, only to have Cas repeatedly upset Isabel's mother by insulting her belief in astrology, ignoring her warnings that their union would be cursed, then inadvertently burning down the Drurys' house with a smouldering cigarette, he having hid the cigarette in discovering Mrs. Drury's anti-smoking stance. The Drurys had the marriage annulled, but Cas suspects Isabel may have now had his baby.

At the hospital, Cas goes through a battery of tests unaware of what they are for. After he is told by a nurse that the tests confirm he is a specimen of good health, he meets Dr. Zernecke who tells him about Isabel having had a baby girl, his baby girl, and that the tests were for their records in Isabel putting the baby up for adoption. In Cas reuniting with Isabel who is still at the hospital, she confirms the baby is biologically his and that she is putting it up for adoption.

Cas disguises himself as a doctor and kidnaps the baby in not wanting Isabel to give their baby away. He hides out at a local hotel, in the process missing his wedding to Madge, and employs two of the hotel staff, Monica Case, a chambermaid, and Frank, the bell captain, to help him take care of the baby, they collectively who employ extreme care for the baby. Figuring he can keep the baby if he is married, he proposes to "plain Jane" Monica, who accepts. With the baby in tow, Cas and Monica head to City Hall.

Isabel confesses to Dr. Zernecke that the adoption was just a ploy to bring Cas to the hospital and discover how he really felt about her and the baby in wanting him back in her life. With Cas, Monica and Frank using whatever means to learn about proper baby care which included Frank unwittingly contacting the hospital, Dr. Zernecke and Isabel have been aware of Cas' location all along and knew the baby was safe. Isabel, Mr. Drury, J.J. and Madge descend upon the hotel concurrently to find Cas. Ultimately, Cas, Isabel and the baby are able to be alone with each other, and upon the fact that Cas and Monica are not married coming to light in they having to wait three days as is law in Chicago, Cas and Isabel decide to reconcile now as a family with their baby.

As the cartoon opens, a hooded figure appears at the doorway of a building and leaves behind an alarm clock that suddenly starts smoking. At the next second, the clock explodes, blowing the building to smithereens. Afterwards, newspaper headlines explain that the figure, known as the Mad Bomber, has been terrorizing the entire city by placing time bombs at different buildings to blow them up. As a result, the police are making every effort to search the city and offer a cash reward of $2,000 to anybody who can capture the fiend.

In the Mad Bomber's hideout, the Mad Bomber is seen making his next time bomb. He does this by taking apart an alarm clock, stuffing it full of various explosives (dynamite, a black bomb, skyrockets, and firecrackers), and puts the alarm clock back together, to make a bomb that is capable of, as he puts it, "blowing up an entire city." After completing his bomb, the Mad Bomber looks at a map of the city, where x's mark the buildings he's already blown up, and draws an x to mark his next target, the Blotz Building. Then he dons a black hat and cloak and makes his way out of the hideout.

Elsewhere in the city, Porky Pig is staring into the window of an ice cream parlor where they sell ice cream sodas for 10 cents. After watching a customer buy and drink an ice cream soda, Porky checks his money and decides the five pennies he has are enough for the soda. Porky comes up to the manager and asks for an ice cream soda, but the manager points out that Porky has only half the amount of money for the soda. Porky starts to leave, feeling disappointed, but suddenly gets the idea that half a soda would be worth half the price. He zips back and requests half of a soda, but the manager still tells Porky that he needs five more pennies for the soda.

Porky leaves the parlor disappointed and sits down at the curb, wondering how to get five more pennies. As Porky does this, a rich gentleman walks by and drops his cane. Porky notices this and hands back the cane, to which the gentleman thanks Porky by giving him a penny. Overjoyed at being rewarded with a penny, Porky dances a jig and tosses the penny into his pocket, as this has solved his problem. With that, Porky retrieves a glove for a fancy dressed lady (just before the lady picks it up herself) and a handkerchief for Mrs. Cudd (after seeing it all the way from a corner down the street), each time being rewarded with a penny and dancing a jig before putting them into his pocket.

During the quest, Porky spies a nickel on the pavement and decides it could save him the trouble of earning two more pennies, but before he can pick it up, a scotty dog zips down all the way from a corner and steals the nickel. Whether the scotty dog dropped the nickel on the ground or the nickel was a rare one is never revealed, the scotty dog doesn't thank Porky for finding it nor reward him with a penny. Undaunted, Porky continues on his quest to retrieve lost items.

At this point, on the same street, the Mad Bomber stops outside the Blotz Building. He takes the time bomb out from under his cloak, activates the timer, and leaves the bomb at the base of the building. Porky happens to see the Mad Bomber leave the scene and, thinking the time bomb is just a regular alarm clock and the Mad Bomber lost it, picks up the bomb. He finds the Mad Bomber in an alley, waiting for the explosion, and hands the bomb back to him, in the hopes of being rewarded with a penny, but the Mad Bomber freaks out and runs away, leaving Porky to chase after him.

The Mad Bomber then runs through several buildings (with Porky following him) and tries hiding in a garage, but one of the double doors is missing and after the Mad bomber shuts it, Porky appears through the opening and tries to hand back the bomb. The Mad Bomber then zips up the fire escape of an apartment building and makes it to the top, but Porky takes the steps up to meet him with the bomb. The Mad Bomber zips back down and finds Porky at the bottom of the building. He tries ducking into an open manhole to hide under the street, but no matter where he turns, Porky is there, still trying to hand back the bomb. The Mad Bomber finally gets out from under the street and tries blocking the manhole with a safety sign (vowing to have Porky blown to bits), but Porky comes out from another manhole and grabs hold of the Mad Bomber's cloak.

At that moment, two policemen spot the Mad Bomber and they pursue him, thinking that Porky holding onto the Mad Bomber's cloak is a sign that Porky's trying to tackle him. The Mad Bomber reaches his hideout, and just as the police, followed by the press arrive at the scene, he locks five doors to the entrance and barricades the last door with various furniture, vowing that they'll never find him. Once more, however, Porky appears and tries to hand back the time bomb. The Mad Bomber decides he's had it and flees the hideout, only to run into the waiting police paddy wagon. Porky then comes out, shoves the bomb (now beginning to smoke) into the paddy wagon, and holds out his hand, expecting the Mad Bomber to pay him a penny for his troubles, but as the paddy wagon drives away to the City Jail, the bomb blows up on its creator, sending fireworks and skyrockets shooting out of the paddy wagon.

Since Porky has helped catch the Mad Bomber, the Chief of Police rewards him with the $2000 cash reward. Porky once more dances a victory jig, but as he tosses the money bag into the air (thinking he's been rewarded with a penny), it hits him on the head and bursts open. One of the reporters asks Porky what he intends to do with his reward, to which Porky starts to reply "I'm g-g-gonna b-b-b-buy me a..." The final scene then shows Porky back in the Ice Cream Parlor gulping down one ice cream soda after another, revealing that he used the $2000 reward to buy a feast of 20,000 ice cream sodas.

Martinius Jacobson is a Norwegian immigrant farmer in Wisconsin with his wife Bruna and their seven-year-old daughter Selma, who is often bedeviled by her playmate and five-year-old cousin Arnold. Martinius simply wants to work his land and to be a loving husband and father to his family. His one great ambition is to build a new barn, but tragedy strikes.

Selma lives a carefree, joyous life, which is only temporarily clouded by the sudden death of Ingeborg Jensen, an emotionally disturbed young woman whose stern father had refused permission to attend school despite the pleas of newly arrived schoolmarm Viola Johnson.

The entire town of Fuller Junction comes to the aid of proud Bjorn Bjornson, who has lost his livestock when lightning struck and burned down his newly erected—but uninsured—barn. When Selma generously donates her pet calf to the impoverished farmer, the townspeople in general, and Martinius in particular, follow suit, prompting Viola to reconsider her harsh views on country life and retract her letter of resignation to the school board.

Florence Fallon is outraged when church elders, in order to make way for a younger preacher, fire her minister father after his many years of selfless service. Following her father's death, she tells the congregation what she thinks of their ingratitude and hypocrisy. Her bitter, impassioned speech impresses Bob Hornsby, who convinces her to become a phony evangelist so they can squeeze donations out of gullible believers. Promoted as Sister Fallon, Florence then travels about the country with Bob, who manages her "Temple of Happiness". Soon she attracts a devoted national following, but the religious sham comes tumbling down once she meets and falls in love with John Carson, a blind war veteran. When Florence is blackmailed by Bob, she tells John of her charade. John then puts a plan in motion to expose Hornsby and the organization.

Ramlee (Afdlin Shauki) is a down and out Malay boy who cannot seem to hold down a job, much to his mother’s (Kartina Aziz) disappointment. Out of a job and out of money, he stumbles across a challenge by sushi restaurant owner Honda (Patrick Teoh) to “eat all you can for free food – within a time limit”. Hungry and desperate, Ramlee attempts the challenge, and fails. In compensation, Honda (Patrick Teoh) lets Ramlee take a job at the restaurant to pay off his due.

Ramlee becomes a member of the Boleh Sushi shop staff, along with Haris (Awie) and Andy (Radhi Khalid). Ramlee is immediately attracted to Honda’s beautiful daughter, Siti (Intira Jaroenpura), who is half-Japanese and half-Malay. He begins to learn the meaning of having good work, good friends and family.

One day he learns that part of his obligation is to take part in the Malaysian Sushi Association Amateur Sumo Wrestling Championships held by the local Japanese owners of sushi restaurants.

Whilst taking part in the initial friendly bout, Akira (Gurmit Singh), Siti’s ex-boyfriend, humiliates him in public. It is only after that that Ramlee finds out that he had been tricked into working for Boleh Sushi because Honda was desperate for a third member for their team.

Ramlee has to make a choice – whether to stay on and fight for Boleh Sushi in the upcoming Championships, or to give up on his new-found family. He decides to step up to the challenge and begins training with the boys for the big fight.

He learns the meaning of the word ''nokotta'' – never give up, the fight is not yet won. He learns that no matter what the result, the honour is in fighting the good fight. Ultimately, Ramlee’s challenge is to let go of the excuses he has made for himself, and to fight till the end, no matter what.

When a veteran cab driver, Pop Riley (Guy Kibbee), refuses to be pressured into surrendering his prime soliciting location outside a cafe, where his daughter works, the old man's cab is intentionally wrecked by a ruthless mob seeking to dominate the cab industry. Upon learning of the "accidental" destruction of his cab (and along with it his livelihood), the old man retrieves his handgun and shoots the bullying man known to be responsible, which lands him in prison, where he dies of poor health in fairly short order.

Pop's waitressing daughter, Sue (Loretta Young), is asked by a scrappy young cab driver, Matt (James Cagney), to lend moral support to a resistance movement populated by other drivers, who are also experiencing similar strong-arm tactics by the same aggressive group of thugs. However, after enduring the crushing loss of her father, Sue undergoes a complete ethical reversal about the notion of fighting back, feels thoroughly sickened by the violence and bloodshed, and she angrily tells the drivers as much.

Her unpredictably wilful but passionate rant instantly lands her on Matt's bad side, although he eventually has a redemptive change of heart, then seeks to charm Sue into becoming his girlfriend. They start dating and compete in a foxtrot dance contest.

Matt and Sue get married. On their wedding night they go to a nightclub with Matt's brother Dan. They are all taunted by Buck Gerard, the man responsible for the attacks on cab drivers. Sue stops Matt from attacking Buck, but Buck stabs and kills Dan.

Matt doesn't tell the police who killed Dan so he can get revenge himself. Sue warns Buck's girlfriend, Marie, that Matt is after him. Matt tracks down Buck but Sue and Marie keep him away from Buck long enough for the police to arrive. Matt fires a gun at the room Buck is hiding in but Buck has fallen to his death while trying to escape.

Sue decides to leave Matt but changes her mind.

The story revolves around Billy Bigelow, a rough-talking, macho, handsome carousel barker, and Julie Jordan, a young, innocent mill worker, both living their busy lives in the small town of Boothbay Harbor, Maine. They fall in love, but are fired from their jobs for different reasons: Billy, because he paid too much attention to Julie and incurred the wrath of the jealous carousel owner Mrs. Mullin; and Julie, because she stayed out past the curfew imposed by the understanding but stern mill owner, Mr. Bascombe.

Billy and Julie marry and go to live at the seaside spa of her cousin Nettie. Frustrated and bitter because he can't find work, Billy strikes Julie (this is not shown in the film). Mrs. Mullin hears of this and goes to Nettie's to offer Billy his job back, but will not re-hire him unless he leaves his wife. Billy seems to consider the idea when Julie asks to speak with him privately. Fearing he will be enraged, Julie timidly tells him she is pregnant. But Billy is overjoyed and firmly refuses Mrs. Mullin's offer. However, newly worried about not having enough money to provide for his child, and inexperienced at anything else, Billy secretly agrees to join his pal Jigger Craigin in robbing the wealthy Bascombe.

During a clambake on a nearby island, Billy and Jigger sneak onto the mainland to commit the robbery, but Bascombe, who is usually unarmed, carries a gun and the robbery is foiled. While Bascombe is momentarily distracted, Jigger flees and leaves Billy at the mercy of the police. Cornered, Billy climbs atop a pile of crates, but they collapse and Billy falls on his own knife. The others return from the clambake, and Julie sees the mortally wounded Billy. She rushes to him and he dies after saying his last words to her. Julie is devastated because she truly loved him, even though she never had the courage to say it out loud.

Fifteen years later, in the other world (apparently the back door of Heaven), Billy is told that he can return to Earth for one day to make amends. Billy returns to find his daughter Louise emotionally scarred because she is constantly taunted over the fact that her father tried to commit a robbery. Not telling her who he is, Billy makes himself visible, tries to cheer her up, and gives her a star that he stole from Heaven. Louise refuses it, frightened, and Billy, in desperation, slaps her hand. She rushes inside the house and informs Julie of what happened, saying that she did not feel a slap, but a kiss. Billy tries to make himself invisible before Julie can see him, but she has glimpsed him for just a split second, and senses that he has come back for a reason. Billy asks his Heavenly Guide for permission to go to Louise's high school graduation, and there he silently gives both Louise and Julie the confidence they need and the knowledge that, in spite of everything, he did love Julie.

The film chronicles the exploits of three Irish brothers. Jimmy is a cop, John is an emergency room doctor, and Dennis, as far as his family is aware of, is a very wealthy businessman, even having paid for John to go to medical school. Their parents, Nora and Tom, are very proud of all three sons. Jimmy is promoted on the police force, and begins the investigation of a murder involving the infamous Muller gang.

As this crime drama unfolds, the viewer is introduced to Dennis's other life. In reality he is a powerful racketeer and bootlegger, but he keeps his two personas separate in order to protect his family from any consequences of his criminal activity. However, when Jimmy's fiancé, Kathleen Doyle, attends a party thrown by Muller at one of his houses. During the party, she inadvertently learns that Silk is a killer hired by Muller, who was responsible for the murder her fiancé is investigating.

Meanwhile, John goes out on an emergency call to care for a man who has been injured in a drunken brawl. While he is treating the injured man, he accidentally discovers that Muller is none other than his brother, Dennis. When Kathleen meets Jimmy and tells him about her discovery, unbeknownst to them, she is overheard by one of Muller's gang, who then plots with the other gang members to ambush and kill Jimmy.

On Thanksgiving, Dennis realizes his cover has been blown, and he realizes his brother, Jimmy, is in danger. He and John rush off to warn Jimmy, but as they arrive at the ambush, Dennis saves his brother, but gets shot by his own men instead. He dies in the arms of both of his brothers, who later tell their parents that he has gone off on another one of his mysterious journeys, perhaps this time for good.

After working as a hostess for Nick and Andy, Tex Malone leaves their employ and opens a club of her own. Looking for talent to book for the floor show, Tex hires Bee Walters and thereby breaks up Bee's act with Eddie Parr.

Andy spitefully kills Tex's friend, Holland, and young Eddie is arrested for the crime on circumstantial evidence. Tex then learns from Eddie's father, Phil, that Eddie is her long-lost son.

At the trial, Tex comes to Eddie's defense and persuades one member of the jury that there is reasonable doubt of Eddie's guilt. The jury repairs to Tex's club, where Tex discovers a piece of evidence that conclusively links Andy with the murder. Eddie is freed, and Tex and Phil get together for a second honeymoon.

Faten Hamama plays Amal, the only daughter of a famous doctor, who lives with Fatimah (Shadia). Fatimah has a crush on Mamdouh, Amal's father, and Amal is in love with Ahmed, an engineer. Amal's father learns of a deadly disease that his daughter has, and decides to hide the truth from her. The doctors have told him that she has only about six months to live, if she can not be cured. Amal finds out and her father faces her with the truth. He requests a talented foreign specialist, who was actually able to cure her disease. She, after recovering, marries her longtime love, Ahmed.

Dr. Fuentes (Federico Luppi) is a medical professor/doctor near his retirement and his wife has recently died. He taught a group of seven - he views this as one of his greatest accomplishments - that trains young people to provide health care to impoverished citizens in the outlying hill country, where small agricultural communities struggle to survive.

Fuentes has recently heard rumors that his former students are lost and possibly dead, so he musters up the courage and travels into the outlands to investigate. It is not until he begins his journey that he discovers a world much different than the one he had imagined existing for his students as he finds himself encountering guerrillas and soldiers. As Fuentes digs into the jungle in search of his students, he discovers that men with guns have reached them first, his students being menaced by many ''men with guns'' (Hombres Armados). This indicates military forces who use torture and execution to intimidate people. He discovers that the guerillas from opposition political groups are only marginally less aggressive.

On his journey he accumulates a few travelling companions: Padre Portillo (Damián Alcázar), a fallen priest who has lost his faith; Domingo (Damián Delgado), a deserter from the Army without a country; Conejo (Dan Rivera Gonzalez), an orphan who survives by stealing; and Graciela (Tania Cruz), a woman who has turned mute after she was raped by the military. Fuentes finds that his journey is revealing but also perilous the deeper he ventures. He ends up travelling into the hill country, looking for his last student, who is rumored to be living in an Edenic village high in the mountains, safe from the violence which has engulfed the countryside. As the doctor and his companions get closer to this half-mythical place, the journey becomes a quest for both safety and an assurance for Fuentes that his life has had some meaning.

In 1972 North Vietnam, short-timer Marines are dispatched by helicopter to conduct their last mission: to evacuate the survivors from a POW camp abandoned by the Viet Cong. The landing zone - which they expect to be cold - is actually hot (under fire) and after a short fight, only four members of the rescue mission survive. SSgt. Barkley and Hoover have a brief fight after Hoover wants to radio for an evacuation and Barkley insists they finish the mission. During their fight a mortar lands nearby, knocking them both into a swamp. Barkley saves Branche from drowning. They are joined shortly by Brooks and Evans. The soldiers defer to the ranking Marine, Sgt. Barkley, who insists that they press on to a nearby cathedral. They reach the building and kill several NVA soldiers. At morning, they are planning their next move when they are ambushed by more NVA soldiers including tree snipers. After a firefight they manage to kill the soldiers with the help of Cpl. Pippins, who appears from the brush and also begins attacking them. After subduing Pippins they look for the rest of his platoon and discover them murdered and their radio missing. They decide to tie Pippins up and bring him along as they march toward the POW camp.

The group then recollect about each of their individual reasons for joining the Marines. Sgt Barkley was a preacher at a church until he came home to his bedroom seeing his wife in bed having sex with another man, Barkley shoots and kills the man and catches the train out of town. Hoover works for a meat packing place until he got fired for stealing meat. Cole tries to rent an apartment, but he is turned down by the real estate agent, because of his race. Brooks tells his girlfriend that he's joining the Marine Corps to be like his grandfather, Pippins was working for Ray until he is killed by gangsters and chased into the military enlistment line without getting caught. While Cole and Barkley go ahead to survey the area, Hoover and Brooks smoke cannabis and talk about Brooks' girlfriend, who just dumped him via the mail. During their break, Pippins escapes and takes Brooks' pistol. The four men regroup and head out without Pippins. When they reach the camp, they discover a deranged Pippins holding a Vietnamese woman hostage. After killing the woman in front of them, Pippis turns on them with a gun and is killed by Sgt. Barkley. After seeing the camp is empty, the men realize they are expendable decoys. They radio in and are informed that the Marines cleared the POW camp four hours earlier, and that they have 20 minutes to reach their pickup point before the entire area is bombed. As the men go to leave bombs begin dropping on them. They escape the bombardment and head through the jungle to the landing zone, but are ambushed by more NVA soldiers. Brooks is killed, and Cole and Barkley wounded. Hoover goes back and rescues Barkley and the three men are evacuated by helicopter. During an epilogue, we are told that Cole became a career Marine who retired after 20 years of service, Sgt. Barkley took a job counseling troubled teens in Georgia, and Hoover went back home, married his girlfriend and opened up his own business.

In 1918, Riyo is a young Japanese woman who becomes a picture bride for a man who works as a field hand on a sugarcane plantation in Hawaii. It is Riyo's aunt who facilitates the match as Riyo's father has long been deceased. Riyo is shown a picture of the handsome Matsuji, her husband-to-be in Hawaii. When Riyo arrives in Honolulu, she discovers that Matsuji is actually twenty years older than her, and had sent a photo that was taken of him when he was a young man. Riyo is disappointed but goes through with the wedding in a mass ceremony with other "picture couples".

She joins Matsuji on a wagon that takes her to her new home, a ramshackle house in the sugarcane plantation. As she walks past the darkened fields to their home, Riyo hears a faint sound on the wind of a woman singing. When she asks about it, Matsuji half-jokes that the ghosts of the canefields have come to welcome her. That night, they sleep on the same mat, but Riyo fights off his attempts at intimacy and hides beneath a blanket.

The next day, Riyo is given an ID tag to wear around her neck and goes to work in the sugarcane fields. She is unfamiliar with farm work and slows the other workers down, leading her to be harassed and ridiculed by Antone, the ''luna'' (field supervisor). Yayoi, who leads the women workers, prompts Kana, another picture bride who arrived several years before, to mentor Riyo. Over time, Riyo and Kana become friends. Riyo learns that Kana's husband Kanzaki frequently beats her and goes out gambling. To escape the abuse, Kana goes out to the fields at night with her baby, where she sings and sleeps.

Riyo agrees to help Kana with her side business of doing laundry for the workers. She saves her earnings from her laundry work and farm work in a tin can, determined to earn her passage back to Japan. Matsuji begins drinking and gambling, telling Riyo he intends to win enough money to get another bride. Kana advises Matsuji to become romantic and to take Rudolf Valentino as a role model to win Riyo's heart.

Meanwhile, Yayoi departs with her family for Honolulu, asking Kana to take care of the other women caneworkers. Antone the ''luna'' becomes more exacting on the workers to meet the harvest in time. One day, he has the workers set fire to the cane fields to burn off the leaves for harvesting, but in a hurry to get the job done, he does not let the women locate their children first. To Kana's horror, she cannot find her baby daughter Kei, who has wandered into the fields. She rushes into the burning field to find her daughter, but neither mother nor daughter returns.

After this tragedy, the workers talk about waging a strike. Matsuji asks Riyo to contribute some of her earnings to help with the strike, but she refuses, still nursing the hope she can use the money to return to Japan. One night, Riyo continues to hear the sound of a woman singing in the fields and leaves the house to follow the sound. Matsuji pursues her and accuses her of having a secret lover. As they sit under a tree, Riyo discloses that when she was a child, both of her parents died of tuberculosis, which at that time carried tremendous social stigma. Although Riyo was healthy, her matchmaker aunt lied to Matsuji about his bride-to-be's status. That night, when Riyo tentatively reaches out to him as they lie in bed, he brusquely turns away.

Feeling betrayed, the next day Riyo gathers her savings and a few belongings and runs away, eventually finding herself at the ocean. After falling asleep on the shore, she is awakened by the sound of singing and glimpses a woman walking among the shoreline rocks. She runs after the vision and encounters Kana, who says she is leaving for Japan. When Riyo asks to accompany her, Kana gently says, "Who waiting for you there?" As Yayoi had done when she left the plantation, Kana hands her neck tag to Riyo and tells her to "take care of the girls." Kana turns to walk toward the sea and fades out of sight.

Riyo awakens with Kana's neck tag in her hand. She returns to the plantation and to her house, where she finds Matsuji drunk. She puts him to bed, and he looks at her, saying, "I thought I was all alone again." Later that night, she hesitantly reaches out to touch his hand, and he reaches back; they embrace and consummate their relationship.

The next day, Riyo surprises the other workers when she begins singing in the fields, as Kana and Yayoi had done. Though Antone tries to make fun of Riyo, she continues to sing with the realization that she has picked up the mantle of leadership. Matsuji makes a gift of a Buddhist altar to Riyo to honor her parents, and she is touched at his acceptance of her past.

The film ends as Riyo, Matsuji, and the other workers dance in a circle at a lively Obon Festival. In a closing voiceover by Nobu McCarthy, an older Riyo describes how she imagines at times that she hears a woman's voice singing and realizes it is the voice of her own daughter singing to her children.

The player fights his way through various areas, inside and around the Dark Castle, in an attempt to defeat the Black Knight. The player's character, named Bryant by default, is the nephew of Duncan, the protagonist of the earlier ''Dark Castle'' games. In the game's intro, we learn that Duncan never returned from his quest to the Dark Castle. Bryant now approaches the castle in an attempt to succeed where Duncan had apparently failed. Bryant must collect 10 orbs hidden around the castle (similar to the orbs from Beyond Dark Castle) before he can confront the Black Knight.

If Bryant defeats the Black Knight on any difficulty other than advanced, the Black Knight chides him for wanting an ending but expending too little effort. If Bryant defeats the Black Knight on advanced difficulty, the Black Knight's armor is knocked off, revealing Duncan, now old and with gray hair and beard. Duncan and Bryant are forced to flee the castle, as the Black Knight's armor had imprisoned Duncan and now threatens to imprison them anew. Duncan and Bryant descend a rope to the Black Knight's Pier and there board a ship to visit an unnamed destination that Duncan always wanted to see.

On the surface of Jupiter's moon, Io, a human scientific research base is under attack by aliens. The player dons a jetpack armed with a laser, a cloaking device and three smart bombs, to rescue the scientists and return them to the base.

After the death of Theodoric the Great his successors try to maintain his legacy: an independent Ostrogothic Kingdom. They are opposed by the Eastern Roman Empire, ruled by emperor Justinian I. It is he who tries to restore the Roman Empire to its state before the Migration Period from his residence in Constantinople, which requires the capture of the Italian Peninsula and specifically Rome. Theodoric the Great is succeeded by his infant grandson Athalaric, supervised by his mother, Amalasuntha, as regent. The lack of a strong heir caused the network of alliances that surrounded the Ostrogothic state to disintegrate: the Visigothic kingdom regained its autonomy under Amalaric, the relations with the Vandals turned increasingly hostile, and the Franks embarked again on expansion, subduing the Thuringians and the Burgundians and almost evicting the Visigoths from their last holdings in southern Gaul. After Athalaric, Ostrogoths Theodahad, Witiges, Ildibad, Totila and Teia succeed Theodoric the Great as king of the Ostrogoths, in that order, and theirs is the task to defend what is left of their kingdom. They are assisted by Theodoric's faithful armourer Hildebrand. The names of the chapters in the book follow the chronology of the Gothic kings.

Meanwhile, a (fictional) Roman prefect of the Cethegus clan, has his own agenda to rebuild the empire. He represents the majority of the population as a former citizen of the Western Roman Empire. He too tries to get rid of the Goths but is at the same time determined to keep the Eastern Romans out of "his Italy".

In the end, the Eastern Romans outlast both the Ostrogoths and Cethegus and reclaim Italy. Cethegus dies in a duel with the (at that time) king Teia. The struggle for Rome ends in the battle of Mons Lactarius near Mount Vesuvius, where the Ostrogoths make their last stand defending a narrow pass (a scene reminiscent of the battle of Thermopylae) and, once defeated, are led back north to the island of Thule where their roots lie by a kindred Northern European people.

Literary context

The book recounts the struggle of the Ostrogoth state in Italy with the Eastern Roman Empire and describes their doom. The main motif of the book is stated in the poem at its end: ''Make way, you people, for our stride. | We are the last of the Goths. | We do not carry a crown with us, | We carry but a corpse. [ ... ]''. This corpse belongs to their late and last king Teia who, throughout the story, symbolises the tragedy of his people's downfall from the moment of Theodoric the Great's death. During the reign of German emperor William II the book was interpreted as criticism on decadence and after World War I it was interpreted, in retrospect, as a prediction for the fall of the German Empire.

The novel focuses on the actual struggle for control over Ancient Rome and specifically on the acts of heroism and heroic deaths therein. For this fact it was quickly considered a ''novel for boys'' in the German Empire, newly founded in 1871; the book was continuously handed over from the previous generation of adolescents to the next until the 1940s.

Dahn was a trained historian and – prior to the novel – had published a first scientific monography about Procopius of Caesarea (in 1865), the main source of the Gothic War (535–552), describing the history of Theoderic's realm and people and their future fates. Dahn incorporated many historical details into the story. However, he was also able to create new characters if he felt the need for them, e.g. Cethegus.

Notable characters

The following groups are essential to the story.

Ostrogoths

The beginning of the story focusses on Theodoric the Great's envisioned heir, his grandson Athalaric. Being underage, his mother Amalasuntha reigns in his stead. When Athalaric dies prematurely, hope for a great leader à la Theodoric is lost. Amalasuntha envisions a merger with the Eastern Roman Empire, much to the dismay of the Ostrogothic people, who consider her as a traitor (an important motif throughout the book).

Theodoric's old but hardy armourer Hildebrand arranges an alliance to be made between him, Vitiges, Totila and Teia to save their kingdom. Vitiges is a just and mature man, who has to sacrifice his happy marriage with Rauthgundis to marry Amalasuntha's daughter Matasuntha. Totila is portrayed as a handsome and charismatic young man, who (like Theodoric) wishes to combine Roman civilisation with Gothic strength. This is symbolised in his relationship with the Italian Valeria. Teia is a dark and fatalistic war hero, who envisions the demise of the kingdom. Even though he knows this demise to be predestined, he adopts the Germanic philosophy to face fate with courage, in order to be well remembered. The reason for his pessimistic view lies also in a tragedy that cost the life of his fiancée. The nature of this tragedy is kept a secret throughout most of the book. As the story unravels each of these three men become king against their will, in their unsuccessful struggle to save the kingdom.

Eastern Romans

The Emperor's marshals Belisarius and Narses shape the campaigns for the reconquest of the Italian Peninsula. Belisarius has already conquered and destroyed the Vandals and is determined to bestow the same fate upon the Ostrogoths but fails to do so. Whereupon Narses, a shrewd strategist, does not waste the opportunity to subdue the Ostrogoths.

Throughout the military campaigns, historian Procopius is present to record the progression. He is in fact the main source of the Gothic War (535–552) and thus the main source for Felix Dahn to write this novel. Procopius' work Secret History is loosely interwoven as a subplot about Theodora scheming and cheating on Justinian I.

Western Romans

Cethegus, as opposed to most characters, is not a historical figure, but the patrician family to which he belongs is historical.

Cethegus was based on the life of Rufius Petronius Nicomachus Cethegus. His father, Petronius Probinus, used to be Consul (Roman consul) in 489 and Patricius (Patrician) from 511–12. In 504 Cethegus was elected sole Consul (e.g. without the obligatory 2nd person as his counterpart). From 512 – ca. 558 he was Patricius and active as a Magister officiorum and the chairman of the Senate (caput senatus, Senate of the Roman Republic). During King Totila's siege of Rome in 545 he was accused of treason and retreated to Constantinople. In 552/553 he negotiated with Pope Vigilius for Emperor Justinian I. Under Pope Pelagius I (556–561) he returned to Italy, making a home in Sicily.

In the novel he opposes both the Ostrogoths and the imperial Eastern Romans and strives to rebuild the Western Roman Empire, but never reveals his true motives to others, while plotting to achieve his goal and corrupting the relationship between the Ostrogoths and the Byzantines, except for his fellow conspirators. The conspirators are mainly members of patrician families that lost their influence under Gothic rule. Accordingly, they have names like Scaevola and Albinus. Another person of lesser importance is Pope Silverius, who is also involved in the conspiracy.

Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

The book has been turned into a movie titled The Last Roman. Starring amongst others Orson Welles, the film was directed by Robert Siodmak and originally published in two parts: * [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063174/ Kampf um Rom I] (1968) * [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064534/ Kampf um Rom II – Der Verrat] (1969)

Editions

• [http://www.gasl.org/refbib/Dahn__Ein_Kampf_um_Rom.pdf Ein Kampf um Rom (PDF; reprint of the 1888 edition in the Arno-Schmidt-Referenz library of GASL)]

Sources

• Internet Movie Database
• [http://www.westfr.de/ns-literatur/dahn-wolff.htm Ein Kampf um Rom] in the context of conservative nationalistic literature (in German)
• [http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/dahn/rom/rom.htm The German text] at the German Gutenberg project
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20071007131647/http://buecherquelle.com/dahn/rom/rom.htm The German text] at [http://buecherquelle.com buecherquelle.com]

A peaceful barbarian village prepares to celebrate the wedding of Queen Amethea (Lana Clarkson) to Prince Argan (Frank Zagarino). During preparations for the wedding ceremony, the forces of Lord Arrakur (Arman Chapman) attack the village. After gang-raping Amethea's younger sister, Taramis (Dawn Dunlap), the attackers take Prince Argan and Taramis as prisoners, along with several others. The remaining villagers are slaughtered. Queen Amethea, her handmaiden Estrild (Katt Shea) and the female warrior Tiniara (Susana Traverso) survive the attack and set out for Arrakur's city to rescue the prisoners and seek revenge for the destruction of their village.

Along the way, the three women come across a small encampment of Arrakur's forces. Amethea and Tiniara ambush and kill the men, discovering Taramis captive inside the camp, who has seemingly been traumatized by her experience and acts withdrawn and delusional.

On the outskirts of Arrakur's realm, the women meet members of an underground resistance force who agree to help smuggle Amethea's party into the city, but refuse to take up arms with them against the tyrannical Arrakur. Inside the city gates, Amethea discovers Argan and the other men taken from her village are being forced to fight as gladiators in the arena at the center of town. Meanwhile, Taramis notices Arrakur leading a procession of troops into his palace and approaches him. Arrakur recognizes Taramis from the camp and allows her to accompany him inside, while in another part of town, Estrild is attacked and raped by two of Arrakur's guards. Amethea and Tiniara come to her defense, but the women are overpowered and taken prisoner.

Estrild is made into one of the harem girls who serve the desires of the gladiators, where she is reunited with Argan, telling him of their failed rescue attempt. Amethea and Tiniara are interrogated separately; Tiniara dies in an escape attempt, while Amethea is sent to the dungeon to be tortured.

Arrakur and his new concubine Taramis visit Amethea in the dungeon, where she has been stripped naked save for a leather collar and thong, to find her being stretched on the rack by the chief torturer (Tony Middleton). Taramis pretends to not know Amethea, while Arrakur demands information about the rebels who helped Amethea into the city. Amethea refuses to speak, and Arrakur demands answers by the morning, taking his leave. Meanwhile, Argan, the other gladiators, and Estrild plot an uprising against Arrakur.

The torturer later rapes Amethea, but she uses her feminine strength to squeeze his manhood painfully during the assault, forcing him to release her from the rack, whereupon Amethea hurls him into a pool of acid and escapes the dungeon.

Finding Estrild, the two women flee the castle and regroup with the rebels, who agree to help in the planned overthrow of Arrakur's forces led by Argan during the gladiatorial games. Amethea and the rebels join with the gladiators in the attack. Amethea fights Arrakur in one-on-one combat during the melee, but is defeated and disarmed by him. Before Arrakur can deliver the killing blow, however, Taramis stabs him in the back, killing him. Amethea and Argan are reunited and celebrate the liberation of the city from Arrakur's tyranny.

Faten Hamama plays Amal, whose father loses most of his money and almost goes bankrupt. She gets abandoned by her fiancé. The owner of a nearby factory steps up and offers to help her father until his conditions get better. Amal marries this man, but their life together as a couple turns out to be boring. Amal, who wasn't very excited about their relationship initially, slowly discovers her husband's good qualities, and their life turns into a happy one.

The story of Barry Champlain, a Cleveland-area shock jock, on the eve of his radio show's national syndication.[http://theater.nytimes.com/2007/03/12/theater/reviews/12talk.html?pagewanted=all The New York Times]

''Orange Pocket'''s story takes place in a rural area in Japan near a large mountain and river. The protagonist, Hideaki Eda, is attending and is experiencing an enjoyable life. One day, Hideaki's childhood friend Nazuna Ayase returns from the city and starts attending his school. She adapts to a rural life quickly and soon things start to become noisier as Hideaki begins to hang out with more girls from his school.

Nadia's (Faten Hamama) father is prisoned for a murder crime he didn't commit. His lawyer fails to get him out of jail, and decides to raise his daughter. Years later, after Nadia has finished her school education, she enters college, where she is assigned to do a research on prisoners and their social effect. In prison, she meets a prisoner who claims to be her father. At first she doesn't believe him, but after checking his documents and ID, she discovers that he's not lying, that he is actually her real father.

She, with the help of her fiancé, played by Kamal Al-Shennawi, seek to free him and prove his innocence. Through their research and after obtaining evidence from old newspapers, they discover that the murderer was not the father, but instead another man (Mahmoud El-Meliguy), who has conspired against the father. In court, the father is proved to be innocent, and the true murderer is jailed. Nadia then marries her love.

The reclusive foreign-born Fedora is one of the great film stars of the century, and known for retaining her youthful beauty over the course of a career spanning decades. At the height of her fame, however, Fedora withdrew to a private island near Corfu and refused to be seen in public, leading to vast speculation on what became of her. All are shocked when it is confirmed Fedora committed suicide by throwing herself in front of a train.

One of her mourners at her funeral is aging has-been Hollywood producer Barry "Dutch" Detweiler, who was once Fedora's lover. Dutch recalls visiting Fedora two weeks before her death at her villa near Corfu in order to convince her to come out of retirement for a new screen adaptation of ''Anna Karenina.'' Dutch is suspicious when Fedora seems confused, disheveled, and cannot remember details of their love affair. Fedora tells him she is a prisoner on the island, held captive by the elderly Polish Countess Sobryanski, her overprotective servant Miss Balfour, her chauffeur Kritos, and Dr. Vando, the cosmetic surgeon responsible for keeping Fedora looking so young. Dutch attempts to help Fedora flee the island, but Kritos knocks him unconscious. He awakens a week later to discover Fedora has killed herself. Dutch suspects she was murdered by the countess for revealing the secret of her captivity.

At the funeral, Dutch accuses Vando and the countess of murdering Fedora. The countess reveals that in fact she is Fedora, with whom Dutch had the affair. The woman who died was her daughter Antonia, who took her mother's place after one of Fedora's surgical treatments disfigured her face. Antonia closely resembled her mother physically but was a much better actress, causing people to believe Fedora herself had become more skillful with age. The deception went undetected until Antonia fell in love with actor Michael York while making a film with him. She begged her mother to be allowed to tell Michael the truth, but the scandal would have ruined both Antonia's career and Fedora's legacy. Unable to trust Antonia, Fedora arranged for Antonia's "retirement" and kept her prisoner on the island. The loss of both her career and her true love caused Antonia to turn to drugs, which destroyed both her looks and her sanity. Fedora realized she could never allow her daughter to leave the island because the inevitable media frenzy surrounding "Fedora's" return would shatter Antonia's fragile mental health. Consumed with guilt over the predicament she had caused, Fedora tended Antonia until Dutch's appearance reminded Antonia of the life she had lost, and she killed herself.

Horrified by the revelation, Dutch considers revealing the sordid story to the press, but realizes he still has feelings toward Fedora and decides she has been punished enough by the loss of her career and her guilt over her daughter. Dutch says goodbye to the elderly Fedora, who dies six weeks after they part.

Hitman Trabucco eliminates two witnesses against the mob. He meets Rudy "Disco" Gambola, before his grand jury testimony against his fellow mobsters, but completing the contract becomes difficult after meeting Victor Clooney, an emotionally disturbed, suicidal television censor, who had many problems for Trabucco. Victor hopes to reconcile with his estranged wife. Trabucco takes a room in the Ramona Hotel in Riverside, California, across the street from the courthouse where Gambola testifies. Their rooms are connected at the hotel. He tries to kill himself, but Victor stops him. Fearing the police are at the courthouse, Trabucco and Victor head to the Institute for Sexual Fulfillment, the nearby clinic where Victor's wife Celia, a researcher for ''60 Minutes'', gathers information about a segment program. Deciding to live his own life, Victor discovers Celia having an affair with clinic director Dr. Zuckerbrot. They go to the hotel, where the doctor inadvertently injects Trabucco with a tranquilizer intended for Victor. Victor is oblivious to the fact Trabucco is a hitman, volunteers to fulfill his contract when he is impaired from the sedative; he feels his ruined life. After overcoming assorted complications, Victor kills Gambola. However, despite his hope, Trabucco has no intention of staying with his accomplices and parts ways after escaping. Trabucco goes to a tropical island, where months later he unexpectedly sees Victor, who arrives thirsty and exhausted at the dinghy. Victor explains he is wanted by police after blowing up Zuckerbrot's clinic and Celia meets the doctor's female receptionist to become a lesbian couple. Deciding to see the irritating Victor off, Trabucco suggests to his native servant the possibility of reviving the old custom of sacrificing humans in the local volcano.

In 1921, vaudeville performer Joe Moran (Winninger) announces the birth of a son, but after the advent of talking pictures in 1928, vaudeville fails. His son Michael "Mickey" Moran (Rooney) writes songs, and Patsy Barton (Garland) sings "Good Morning". Mickey sells the song for $100. He gives Patsy his pin and kisses her. Mickey learns that his parents Joe and Florrie (Grace Hayes) are going on the road without the children, and he disagrees. Patsy and Molly Moran (Jaynes) sing "You Are My Lucky Star" and "Broadway Rhythm", but Joe says no to their going. So, Mickey proposes the kids put on a show, and Don Brice (Douglas McPhail) sings "Babes in Arms" as they march and make a bonfire. Joe dismisses Mickey.

Martha Steele (Margaret Hamilton) and her nephew Jeff (Rand Brooks) from military school complain to Judge Black (Kibbee) about the Vaudeville kids. She suggests that the judge send the kids to the workhouse for children because their parents cannot take care of them, but the judge will not take them from their homes. In a drugstore, Mickey and Patsy meet movie star Baby Rosalie Essex (Preisser), but Mickey gets in a fight with Jeff. Mickey tells Judge Black that his parents' show flopped. The judge gives Mickey 30 days to pay damages. Don and Molly sing "Where or When" with an orchestra of children. Mickey has a date with Baby and dines in her house. Mickey wants Baby in the show, which needs $287. She offers to pay it. Mickey smokes a cigar and leaves sick.

Mickey tells Patsy that Baby has to play the lead because of the money. Mickey directs rehearsal with Baby and Don, imitating Clark Gable and Lionel Barrymore. Patsy sees Mickey kiss Baby. Mickey tries to stop Patsy from leaving. On the bus, Patsy sings "I Cried for You". Patsy goes to a theater to see her mother (Ann Shoemaker). Patsy says that Mickey is putting on a show to keep the kids out of an institution. Patsy's mother tells Patsy not to quit her show.

Baby's father takes her out of the show, and Mickey asks Patsy to go on. In the show, Patsy sings "Daddy Was a Minstrel Man". Mickey and Patsy put on blackface and sing a medley with Don. Patsy sings "I'm Just Wild About Harry", but a storm drives the audience away. Mickey learns that his father quit theater and got an elevator job. Mrs. Steele says the children must report and gives Joe the paper. Mickey gets a letter from producer Maddox (Henry Hull), who liked the show and produces it. As Mickey listens, Maddox asks Joe to teach the youngsters in the show. Mickey introduces the show by singing "God's Country", which the company contrasts to fascism. Mickey and Patsy satirize Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, and then everybody dances and finishes with a chorus of "God's Country".

In Havana, Cuba, an American dancer called Joe Martin has a winning lottery ticket. However wealthy socialite Diana Harrison also has a lottery ticket with the same number. Joe's ticket is counterfeit so he misses out on the money. Diana feels sorry for him and offers to back him in his own night club but then changes her mind after he tries to seduce her.

Joe then discovers the rumba dance when he visits his home town during a fiesta. He gets financial backing from a Texan to establish a new nightclub with Flash, his manager. Joe dances the rumba with Carmelita and is a big success.

Diana goes to opening night with her boyfriend Hobart Fletcher. She dances with Joe and they fall in love. However Carmelita helps break them up.

Back in New York Diana discovers that Joe left New York because he had evidence that would send a gang member to prison. Diana breaks up with Hobart. Joe reads about this, signs with a Broadway producer and returns to New York. Joe is threatened with death by gangsters but decides to perform anyway. Carmelita faints out of fear but Diana steps up and performs the rumba with Joe. The performance is a big success and it's revealed that the gangster threats was a publicity stunt.

News anchor Ted Baxter is hired as the grand marshal for a circus parade, but is ordered by Lou Grant to turn down the "honor". Ted is upset and tries to rally Mary to his side. Mary agrees that Lou acted a bit hastily, but then tells Ted that Chuckles the Clown has been asked in his place and has accepted.

The next day, as Mary and Murray are watching Ted deliver the live newscast, Lou rushes into the newsroom in shock and tells the staff that Chuckles has been killed during the parade. He had dressed as the character Peter Peanut, and a rogue elephant tried to "shell" him, causing fatal injuries. During a commercial break, Lou orders Ted to adlib a eulogy for Chuckles, with disastrous results.

The next day at the studio, the unusual circumstances of Chuckles' death provoke a wave of workplace jokes, especially by Lou, Sue Ann Nivens and Murray Slaughter (''e.g.'' "You know how hard it is to stop after just one peanut!" and "He could've gone as Billy Banana and had a gorilla peel him to death.") They dissolve into helpless laughter, except for Mary, who is appalled by her co-workers' apparent lack of respect for the deceased. They try to assure her that they mean no disrespect for Chuckles. Their reaction is simply an emotional release, a response to humankind's fear of death: "Everyone does it." Mary shames them into uncomfortable silence by answering, "I don't."

At the funeral, the jokes continue until the services are about to start, at which time a final scolding by Mary encourages her friends to become properly somber. However, Mary alone begins to giggle uncontrollably as the minister recounts Chuckles' comedy characters and comic routines. She tries to stifle her laughter, but cannot contain herself as Reverend Burns delivers the eulogy:

:"Chuckles the Clown brought pleasure to millions. The characters he created will be remembered by children and adults alike: Peter Peanut; Mr. Fee-Fi-Fo; Billy Banana; and my particular favorite, Aunt Yoo-Hoo. And not just for the laughter they provided — there was always some deeper meaning to whatever Chuckles did. Do you remember Mr. Fee-Fi-Fo's little catchphrase? Remember how, when his arch-rival Señor Kaboom hit him with a giant cucumber and knocked him down, Mr. Fee-Fi-Fo would always pick himself up, dust himself off, and say 'I hurt my foo-foo'? Life's a lot like that. From time to time we all fall down and hurt our foo-foos. If only we could deal with it as simply and bravely and honestly as Mr. Fee-Fi-Fo. And what did Chuckles ask in return? Not much. In his own words, 'A little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down your pants.'"

Mary's friends, and the other attendees, are shocked by her laughter. The minister, however, asks the mortified Mary to rise, and assures her that her laughter is actually in keeping with Chuckles' life's work. "He lived to make people laugh. Tears were offensive to him; deeply offensive…So go ahead, my dear: laugh for Chuckles." Mary then bursts into helpless, heartbreaking sobs.

Back at Mary's apartment after the funeral, she and her friends discuss how they envision their funerals. Sue Ann says she just wants to be cremated and have her ashes thrown on Robert Redford; Lou says he doesn't want anyone to "make a fuss" about his death, explaining "When I go, I just wanna be stood outside in the garbage with my hat on"; and Mary says she just doesn't want "an organ playing a lot of sad music" at her funeral. Murray asks her "What do you want them to play, 'Everything's Coming Up Roses'"? Finally, Ted envisions "a nice, fancy funeral" for himself, but only if he's going to die. After being questioned about what he means by "if", Ted then explains that if he gets real sick to where he's going to die, he wants someone to "take him away and freeze him" and then in "200–300 years when they find a cure", to just ''un-freeze'' him. Mary then asks Ted to do her a favor when they freeze him – "Could you take this with you?", and takes out of her refrigerator the "food mobile" Sue Ann gave her at the beginning of the episode; everyone laughs as the credits roll.

It is 1799 and eighteen-year-old Judith Mortimer lives with her widowed father, Jonathan, on their farm in Essex. Jonathan Mortimer has devoted his adult life, and most of his money, to writing and publishing lengthy treatises on various subjects close to his heart. None has found favour with the reading public and, consequently, he and his daughter are close to penury. Several years earlier, Mortimer suffered a stroke and is confined to bed where he works on his latest project, ''A Treatise on Just Government''.

Meanwhile, his increasingly desperate daughter tries to find ways to keep the small household, including two servants, financially viable. She has entered into an agreement with a band of local smugglers to allow them use the farm's outhouses to store their merchandise. In return, the smugglers pay her ten to fifteen guineas each time they use the farm for their illegal purposes.

Jonathan Mortimer is first cousin to a local earl and powerful landowner to whom he is in considerable debt. The debt arises from a legal dispute concerning their mutual grandfather's will. The earl wishes to buy the Mortimers' farm, which adjoins his own larger estate, and thereby clear their indebtedness to him. Under the proposed arrangement, Jonathan Mortimer will be allowed to live out his remaining days on the farm. Furthermore, the earl offers to give Judith a generous dowry so that she can marry. However, the catch is that she must marry the odious Mr. Massingham. She refuses the offer

Robert Barnabas, son of the smugglers' leader, is in love with Judith and, during one of his nocturnal visits to the farm, he makes his feelings clear. Judith's emotions are thrown into turmoil by the handsome young man's directness. She learns that he was studying to be a doctor but abandoned it under pressure from his father to join the family 'business'. Now, as his love for Judith brings meaning to his life, he resolves to turn away from smuggling and complete his medical training.

Not long after her refusal of the earl's offer, Judith's father dies. At the same time, news of her involvement with the smugglers reaches the local militia. She is forced to flee to London with Evergreen, an orphan gypsy girl whom she has taken into her care. There, the two young women unwittingly fall into the clutches of Mrs. Ware, who runs an 'academy' for young girls. Ostensibly set up to teach its occupants how to be ladies, Mrs. Ware's academy is, in reality, a high class brothel.

Robert Barnabas pursues Judith to London and rescues her from Mrs. Ware's establishment. However, Massingham, furious and humiliated at Judith's refusal of his proposal of marriage, has also come to London seeking revenge. Together with his henchmen, he seizes Judith in the street and brings her to a lunatic asylum. There she is incarcerated for months in appalling conditions, naked and shackled in a cold cell. Massingham pays the asylum keeper to hold Judith until he feels she has learned her lesson. Eventually she is released onto the streets of London, her sanity barely intact and with nowhere to go.

She is 'adopted' by a street urchin who takes her back to his filthy hovel. Each day she is forced by her new companion to beg on the streets. After several more months of dreadful hardship, Judith is taken in by a kindly young Christian woman, Miss Westmoreland. Slowly Judith begins to recover her mental and physical health and a strong bond of friendship forms between the two women.

Through Judith, Miss Westmoreland learns of the appalling conditions in which London's poor live. She resolves to set up an orphanage and hospital to care for abandoned children. The two women raise the necessary funds and advertise for a doctor to run their new enterprise. One of the applicants is the now-qualified Dr. Robert Barnabas.

Reunited at last, Barnabas and Judith are soon married. They return to Essex to live on the Mortimer farm. It transpires that the dispute over her great-grandfather's will has been settled in her favour and the farm is now hers.

A group of mobsters plan a bank heist. But the rehearsal of the robbery is plenty of personal drama, disputes and almost farcical mishaps.

Orphaned siblings Jackie and Tom are elated to be chosen to participate in a treasure hunt alongside other players, for a prize of one million dollars. Set in an Italian castle owned by the mysterious Diablo, all they must do to win the contest is be the first to find the check. Also hunting for the money are several others that are highly competitive and willing to do anything to win. The contest is to be recorded for a MTV-esque music channel and sponsored by the recording company of pop star Cassandra Castle, who is to accompany the contestants throughout the hunt along with VJ Rex. Cassandra, however, is unwilling to spend any time with the contestants and prefers to spend all of her time drinking excessively in her private room. Upon a whim Cassandra makes a deal with Rex to hide the money on her person so none of the contestants can find it. Upon the end of the competition the two will split the winnings.

Once the contest begins the contestants begin a frantic search for the check, unaware of Cassandra's duplicity or that supernatural forces are picking the players off one by one. Cassandra's plans are waylaid when the forces begin to torment her and cause her to lose the check, which is carried throughout the castle on a magical breeze. Eventually only Jackie, Cassandra, and Tom are left, upon which point they are unable to ignore that something is very wrong. As Jackie frantically searches for answers she discovers a room at the top of the castle containing a crystal ball and Diablo, who reveals himself to be a demon. He also tells her that he has captured the souls of the other contestants in the sphere and will take them all to Hell, as well as that his next victim will be her brother. Meanwhile Cassandra and Tom have romantically connected with one another. He also discovers the check, which has landed near him and Cassandra. Tom is shocked when Cassandra chooses to burn the check and warns him that the money comes with strings attached that he wouldn't want. She throws the check into a fireplace, only Diablo to magically summon her to his room and chastise her for ruining his plans, revealing that Cassandra had formed a contract with him and that he will be taking her soul to Hell as well. In exchange for her soul she gained fame and wealth, which she quickly realized was not worth the bargain and took to alcohol and drugs to numb herself to her reality. In order to save both Tom and Cassandra Jackie tries to bargain with Diablo, offering her soul in exchange for the both of them. Horrified, Cassandra chooses to destroy Diablo's crystal ball, which puts an end to his evil plans and brings all of the contestants back to life. This also frees Cassandra, who reveals that she convinced Diablo to give her back her soul and to instead VJ at the music channel. The film closes with Diablo hosting a music broadcast and announcing a new contest that will bring him all new victims.

Following the destruction of the Mysteron outpost on the Moon, Dr Kurnitz of the Nash Institute of Technology has discovered that the Mysteron crystal extracted by Spectrum can be used to communicate with the Mysterons on Mars. Captain Scarlet (voiced by Francis Matthews) escorts Kurnitz to Cloudbase, where an interplanetary transmitter has been constructed. Meanwhile, the Mysterons threaten to destroy Cloudbase at midnight.

Kurnitz activates the transmitter and Colonel White (voiced by Donald Gray) addresses the Mysterons. Recalling the ''Zero-X'' mission to Mars, White insists that the attack on the Mysteron city was motivated not by hostility, but by fear, and ends his broadcast with an offer of peace. Two hours later, the Mysterons respond: they agree to negotiate on the condition that a single unarmed Spectrum officer depart from Cloudbase and fly on a bearing that will take him over Greenland. Scarlet volunteers for the mission and leaves in a Spectrum Passenger Jet.

After Scarlet crosses the Greenland coast, the disembodied Mysteron voice orders him to eject. The captain is picked up in an empty car under Mysteron control and driven to a shack containing a pulsating glass screen, behind which Captain Black (voiced by Donald Gray) is sitting. Instructing Scarlet to relay a "message" to humanity, Black starts a tape recording – in which the Mysterons merely re-affirm their intention to destroy all life on Earth – and departs. Scarlet smashes the screen to find a second Mysteron crystal, which begins to pulsate fiercely. He escapes the shack just before the crystal explodes.

Realising that the first crystal must also be a bomb, Scarlet commandeers the car and speeds to an unmanned radar station, where he transmits a warning to Cloudbase in Morse code. Seconds before midnight, White decodes Scarlet's message and orders Captain Ochre (voiced by Jeremy Wilkin) to shoot out one of the base's observation windows and jettison the crystal, which explodes harmlessly in the atmosphere. Later, White says that Spectrum remains committed to finding a peaceful solution to its war with the Mysterons.

Set on the fictional ranch of Horseland Stables, the series follows the adventures of six pre-teens (Sarah, Alma, Molly, Chloe, Zoey, and Bailey) and their horses, who each deal with their own life situations. Almost every episode is narrated in flashback by Shep the rough collie, who gives its featured lesson to Teeny the pig and Angora the cat in the opening and ending scenes.

On a field trip to the beach, Rachel is exploring tide pools when she loses an earring in the water. Wishing to get it back she comes across a starfish, acquires it, and morphs into it, retrieving the earring. Unfortunately, before she can demorph, a child chops her in half. Thanks to the regenerative properties of starfish, Rachel does not die; instead, in the shock of being sliced in two, both halves demorph, resulting in two Rachels - Mean Rachel and Nice Rachel.

Mean Rachel is violent, aggressive, and despises all forms of "weakness" - weakness including most feelings, and any attitudes towards enemies other than homicidal hatred. She is totally incapable of planning ahead, making her useless in anything other than a direct combat situation, and believes that she is always right. This leads her to try to kill Marco and Jake, and take control of the Animorphs. In contrast, Nice Rachel is totally passive, easily frightened, and is too scared to morph. She cannot fight, making herself a liability in battle, although she is good at making plans. Both Rachels are actively dangerous towards the secrecy and long-term survival of the Animorphs, and the rest of the Animorphs must find a way to combine them back into Normal Rachel.

Jake convinces Nice Rachel to come with him to follow a Yeerk truck. It turns out to be a trap, and Jake and Nice Rachel are put in boxes to await the arrival of Visser Three. Mean Rachel follows them in an attempt to kill Jake and Nice Rachel. Jake pretends to be dead, forcing Mean and Nice Rachel to work together in order to escape the trap. Nice Rachel makes the plan and Mean Rachel actually does it, flying into Visser Three's ear canal while morphed and threatening to demorph, killing both of them. All three escape unharmed.

After they escape safely, Nice and Mean Rachel finally realize that they need to be together to work well and Erek King helps make them back into one whole Rachel again by morphing into each other while touching. After Rachel is returned to normal, she realises that it is both sides of her personality that make her who she is, and vows to try not to become either of the two.

The novel told from the point of view of a waitress from Belfast who calls herself "Poisoner" or "Mad Dog Me", is about a group of illegal Middle Eastern workers calling themselves the "Night Shift", "the Sons of Sheikh Zubair," and "the Sons of ''Umm Muhammad''", at a kebab shop, the Cholman Deli in Leicester Square, who commit acts of terrorism because they desire and have been unable to get British citizenship. Angry about how easily she can get a work visa, being from Ireland, she is treated as a whore by her co-workers, and usually known to them as "the slag". Poisoner steals a rock of plutonium called the Stone of Scone and hides it in an intimate part of her body. This theft helps draw attention to the restaurant.

The book is written in thick Irish dialect and slang, with long compound-complex sentences and lengthy observations and metaphors by its narrator, who can rarely get in a word with the others, and when she does, she rarely displays the intelligence she shows in the narration, speaking in short, inutile blips in even thicker slang.

Sheikh Zubair is ultimately mentioned as being from Stratford-Upon-Avon. The book ends with Ilan married to Zeev's mother and a lengthy sex scene between Zeev and Mad Dog Me.

The novel starts with an epigraph : "This novel sings a praise about School, even though School may take no notice about that."

The title refers to the ''Feuerzangenbowle'' punch consumed by a group of gentlemen in the opening scene. While they exchange nostalgic stories about their schooldays, the successful young writer Dr. Johannes Pfeiffer realizes he missed out on something because he was taught at home and never attended school. He decides to make up for it by masquerading as a student at a small-town high school. At the school he quickly gains a reputation as a prankster. Together with his classmates, he torments his professors Crey, Bömmel and Headmaster Knauer with adolescent mischief. His girlfriend Marion unsuccessfully tries to persuade him to give up his foolish charade. Eventually, he falls in love with the headmaster's daughter and discloses his identity after provoking the teachers into expelling him from school.

The episode begins in the guise of a comic book. FBI special agent Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) receives a letter from Shaineh Berkowitz (Pattie Tierce), a single mother who claims to have been impregnated, while unconscious, by an unknown presence 18 years ago, resulting in the birth of her son, Izzy (Stewart Gale). Now, following a similarly unexplained attack, she is pregnant again. She has heard about Fox Mulder's expertise in the paranormal from ''The Jerry Springer Show'', and wants him to investigate.

Special agents Mulder and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), travel to rural Albion, Indiana. They meet Shaineh and her son Izzy, and learn that the description of the creature that attacked her, with a lumpy head and two mouths, is very similar to a comic book character invented by Izzy. His monstrous creation, called The Great Mutato, is inspired by a mysterious creature that has been seen by many of the locals. Izzy and his friends accompany the agents to a wooded area, where they see Mutato (Chris Owens) from a distance.

They meet an old man who angrily tells them that there are no monsters, and sends them to see his son, a geneticist named Francis Pollidori (John O'Hurley). Dr. Pollidori shows them his experiments studying the Hox gene, using the fruit fly ''Drosophila''. This presentation includes images of a mutated fly whose legs are growing out of its mouth. He tells the agents that the same kind of experiment could, in theory, be performed on humans. Afterward, Mulder tells Scully that he believes that Dr. Pollidori, acting as a modern-day Victor Frankenstein, has created The Great Mutato.

Later, Dr. Pollidori's wife Elizabeth (Miriam Smith) is knocked unconscious and attacked in the same manner as Shaineh. At the crime scene, Mulder and Scully find a chemical residue from an agricultural agent used to anesthetize animals, which leads them to suspect Dr. Pollidori's father, who is a farmer. Dr. Pollidori comes to his father's house, angrily confronts him, and murders him. Later, Mutato, who lives with Pollidori Sr., finds his dead body and tearfully buries it in a barn.

Mulder and Scully go looking for Pollidori Sr. and find a shallow grave and photographs of the dead man with Mutato. Meanwhile, Dr. Pollidori leads an angry mob of townspeople to his father's house, demanding that Mulder and Scully turn the alleged murderer over to them. The agents find Mutato hiding in the basement as the crowd gathers upstairs. Someone accidentally sets the barn alight, and in the ensuing confusion, the mob realize that the agents are protecting the monster in the basement.

Mutato speaks to the crowd and explains that he was created 25 years before, and that he is the result of a genetic experiment by Dr. Pollidori. Unbeknownst to his son, Pollidori Sr. rescued Mutato and cared for him, but was unable to provide a friend or a mate for the boy. The old man attempted to emulate his scientist son's experiments, and tried to create hybrids from his farm animals. Mutato asks Dr. Pollidori to create a female companion for him, but the scientist says that he cannot—that Mutato was a mistake.

The townspeople realize that The Great Mutato is not a monster after all, and Dr. Pollidori is arrested for the murder of his father. Mulder feels that it is unjust for Mutato not to get a mate, and so he demands to see "the writer". In a fanciful, if not imagined, scene, Mulder and Scully take matters into their own hands and take Mutato, along with the townspeople, to a Cher concert. The episode ends with a shot of Mulder and Scully dancing, which slowly turns back into the comic book seen at the beginning of the episode.

''The Aftermath'' is divided into four stories ranging in setting from shortly before the outbreak to several months afterward. The first three stories each follow separate groups or individuals; the fourth story brings the survivors of these stories together for their ultimate fate.

Stage 1: Development

At an unspecified time before the initial outbreak, two scientists – the prudent Clive and the reckless Warren – are attempting to develop an inhibitor which can be used to control aggressive impulses in humans. Warren is able to secure a violent criminal as a human test subject after bribing a police captain. When the subject proves uncontrollable, Warren and Clive are forced to kill him and hide his body. Despite his misgivings about Warren and his ethics, Clive is now irrevocably tied to the project.

Deciding that the only feasible means of widely disseminating the inhibitor is through a contagion, Warren genetically modifies the Ebola virus to carry it. However, the virus mutates and reverses the inhibitor's effect – a highly contagious, rage-inducing virus called Rage virus has been born. After a physical fight with Warren, Clive quits the project. Later, he makes a call from a public telephone to an eco-terrorist group called the Animal Freedom Front, then shoots himself in the head.

Meanwhile, Warren talks to an unknown person on the telephone and informs him about the inhibitor's reverse effect. The man enlightens Warren that this could have "other applications" when the telephone suddenly cuts out. At this moment, Warren hears a strange noise coming from down the hall and seems distressed by it. He approaches a door noticing it was left open. Upon entering the door, Warren is abruptly ambushed by an ape that vomits in his face and infects him with Rage Virus. It is implied that the chimp is one of the animal test subjects freed by the eco-terrorists, as seen at the start of the film ''28 Days Later''.

Stage 2: Outbreak

On the day following the laboratory break-in, a family of five – parents Roger and Barb, and children Sid, Sophie, and Liam – is picnicking at a park in Cambridge. Liam, the youngest son, is attacked and infected by one of the freed chimps, which Roger kills. A team of paramedics rush to Liam's aid and instruct the family to follow their ambulance to London. Along the way, Liam's family witnesses scenes of carnage as the Rage virus precedes them. When Liam infects the paramedics and the three attack the ambulance driver, the family realizes that something is terribly wrong.

Days later, the four survivors hide out in a barricaded dwelling in London, hearing through the radio that the Prime Minister has declared a state of emergency. The family follows Sid's suggestion of escaping via the Thames River. The Infected chase the family on their way to Westminster Bridge, causing Roger and Barbera to urge the remaining children to jump down to the motorboats floating below, promising to follow after. Instead, they remain on the bridge for a last stand while allowing Sid and Sophie to escape upriver undetected.

Stage 3: Decimation

One month after the outbreak, a lone survivor named Hugh is living in deserted London and hunts Infected. After killing an Infected, Hugh is attacked by another survivor wearing SWAT gear and a hockey mask. Evading the assailant's hail of fire, Hugh makes for safety and plans to eliminate this apparent threat. After being ambushed by Hugh, the other survivor retreats to his commandeered military transport. Hugh douses the other survivor vehicle with perfume from his rooftop perch, which attracts a large number of Infected; caught by the Infected, the other survivor is shot in the head by Hugh, who then ignites the petrol tank and kills a large number of Infected. Afterwards, Hugh sees several U.S. Navy F-14 Tomcats making a low pass over central London.

Stage 4: Quarantine

Two months after the outbreak, Sid and Sophie have found shelter at a refugee center. The children meet the other characters – Sophie meets Clive, who survived his suicide attempt and hides his involvement in the development of the Rage virus, while Sid meets Hugh, who was brought to the camp by the American occupation force. Eventually, Hugh convinces Sid, Sophie, and Clive that the military has ulterior motives and that they must escape.

After stealing uniforms and weapons, the group is intercepted by soldiers during their escape attempt. Sid and Hugh are killed holding off the soldiers. Clive stops Sophie and reveals his involvement with the virus, warning that it could possibly mutate again. He asks her to help him find a way to make things right. Instead, Sophie kisses him, and then shoots him in the head. Smiling, Sophie allows a sniper aboard the pursuit helicopter to kill her with a rifle shot through the head.

''From the London cast recording liner notes (no indication of copyright):''

In the dim light of early morning the township people set out for work ("Sad Times, Bad Times"). As Pauline, the washerwoman, leaves to deliver a bundle of washing a boy picks out a tune on a penny whistle—the "Little Kong" song, which has become a great favourite with the children. This sets the group reminiscing about the life of King Kong, who has become something of a legend in the township. And so we see the great King Kong in his heyday, surrounded by photographers, journalists and an excited township crowd ("Marvelous Muscles"). There is a big fight coming off, and everybody is confident it will be a pushover for the Champ ("King Kong"). King wins the fight and takes his friends to celebrate in Back of the Moon, the township's most famous shebeen ("Kwela Kong").

Joyce, who is the "shebeen queen", falls for King ("Back of the Moon"). Their love affair goes off at a hot pace, which is unlucky for Petal, who has a secret passion for the prizefighter ("The Earth Turns Over"). It is also bad news for Lucky, the fast and fancy leader of the Prowlers gang, who had previously been Joyce's man. Later, Lucky and his gang corner Popcorn, King Kong's friend and second, and King and his crowd arrive just in time to save him. In the ensuing brawl, King kills one of the gangsters with his fists, and Lucky swears to get even with him ("Damn Him!").

King spends ten months in the cells awaiting trial and Joyce finds new male company. King's trainer, Jack, signs up a new heavyweight, and continues with his pursuit of Nurse Miriam Ngidi. With King out of the picture, the Prowlers have it all their own way in the township. Then one Sunday when the streets are full of people ("Gumboot Dance") King Kong returns home acquitted. Everybody is overjoyed to see him and although King's pleasure sours a little when he learns about the new heavyweight, he is reassured by the tribal welcome home given him by the whole township ("King King").

Act Two opens with children playing in the township streets. Popcorn warns the children against boxing and tells of trouble in King Kong's camp ("Be Smart, Be Wise"). Lights go out, the township turns in for the night, then suddenly—crash! It is another snatch and grab raid by the Prowlers. Things are going badly for King. With Lucky and his gang exerting pressure on any prospective opponents, he can get no proper fights. The best Jack can do is to sign him up with Greb Mabisa, a middleweight. Lucky lets this fight go, knowing it will make a fool of King. Meanwhile, the ex-champ has laid off training, is making no attempt to get fit, and has fallen out with Joyce. But she agrees to give King one more chance, on condition that he never hits another man outside the ring. In the atmosphere of reconciliation, Jack at last announces that he and Nurse Miriam Ngidi are getting married ("Quickly in Love").

King loses the fight against Greb. The township is incredulous, and King experiences the scorn and mockery of the early morning bus queue the day after the fight ("In the Queue"). Lucky and his gang taunt him unmercifully. Enraged, he hits at the people in the queue, and Joyce, in disgust, walks out on him forever.

The whole town comes to Jack and Miriam's wedding ("Wedding Hymn") and in the middle of the ceremony King arrives, demanding "Where's Joyce?" A few minutes later Joyce comes in with Lucky, and in that moment King sees not only his own downfall, but Joyce's tragic return to the tough life of the shebeen keeper and gangster's girl. In blind fury, he kills Joyce. At his trial, a showman and eccentric to the end, King dismisses his lawyer, pleads guilty and asks the judge to sentence him to death ("Death Song"). He is given fifteen years imprisonment, but two weeks later drowns himself in a dam at the farm prison to which he was committed. As the show ends, it is evening in the township yard and the people are streaming back from work.

Raised in 1844 Greenwich, Connecticut by her strait-laced low church parents, Ephraim (Walter Huston) and Abigail (Anne Revere), Miranda Wells (Gene Tierney) is a farm girl who often daydreams of a more romantic and luxurious life outside the farm. Miranda gets her opportunity when her mother receives a letter from their distant cousin Nicholas Van Ryn (Vincent Price), a wealthy patroon in Hudson, New York. Miranda manages to convince her parents to let her go to Nicholas's estate of Dragonwyck manor as companion to his eight-year-old daughter Katrine (Connie Marshall). Over time, Miranda learns that Nicholas and his wife Johanna are estranged from each other and from their daughter. She also hears from the servants that the Van Ryn bloodline is cursed as only they can hear the harpsichord played by the ghost of Nicholas's great-grandmother Azilde whenever misfortune befalls the family.

Meeting an Anti-Rent supporter named Dr. Jeff Turner while secretly attending the tenant farmers' Kermesse with Katrine, Miranda witnesses Nicholas evicting a discontented farmer named Klaas Bleecker for refusing to participate in the annual rent-paying ceremony. A few days later, Klaas is accused of murder. Nicholas ungraciously assents to Turner's request that the farmer be given a fair trial, in return for which he insists the doctor attend to his ailing wife Johanna. Although Johanna is diagnosed with a simple cold, she dies unexpectedly of acute gastritis from eating cake.

Nicholas later confesses to Miranda that he was unhappy with his wife for not bearing him a son after being rendered infertile by the birth of Katrine. At the same time, he admits having romantic feelings for Miranda. Miranda returns the sentiment, but returns to Greenwich to put some distance between them. Two months later, Nicholas arrives and asks for her hand in marriage. Ephraim and Abigail reluctantly consent, and Miranda becomes pregnant not long after the wedding. Nicholas is thrilled by the news, though he quarrels with her over her simple faith in a God as the semi-feudal system of patroon land ownership and tenancy crumbled around him. However, when their baby is revealed to have a defective heart and dies immediately after his baptism, a heartbroken and embittered Nicholas withdraws alone to an attic room at Dragonwyck and becomes a drug addict. Peg O'Malley, Miranda's semi-lame loyal maid, fears for Miranda's life and calls upon Dr. Jeff Turner for help.

Turner arrives as Nicholas is suffering a psychotic episode characterized by auditory hallucinations and realizes that Johanna's death was not an accident; Nicholas poisoned Johanna with a sprig from an Oleander bush he'd sprinkled in her food.

Turner accuses Nicholas of murder and insinuates he is planning to murder Miranda as well. Insulted, Nicholas lunges at Turner and the two brawl on the floor with the younger Turner ultimately knocking Nicholas out. Peggy spirits Miranda away from Nicholas for her safety.

An increasingly volatile and dangerous Nicholas grabs a pistol and goes to the Kermesse grounds in an attempt to revive patroon authority by reliving old tenant rituals, but as if in answer to his fantasies as well as his worst fears, Turner arrives with the tenant farmers, the mayor, and the sheriff and arrests him for the murder of his wife. When he resists arrest and reaches for his gun, Nicholas is shot to death.

Miranda returns accompanied by Turner to her family in Greenwich. As they part, Turner repeats the exact words he spoke when he first tried unsuccessfully to woo Miranda: Can he see her again, he asks? I suppose so, says Miranda."Will a week be too soon? asks Dr. Turner, and the film ends.

Dolores, the Freak Brothers' landlady, is going to evict them unless they can come up with rent money. As a result, all three brothers find themselves victims of bedroom farces. Vinnie fakes being a painter, but his client wants other services anyway. Alas, when she later reveals she tricked him and still expects him to paint, he steals her purse. Meanwhile, Vinnie has sex with their landlady, just to find out she still expects her rent. She does however grant a postponement of some days to a female tenant who tries the same trick.

Lastly, Fat Freddy meets Mr. Natural, the 82-year-old proprietor of a health food store with his two employees who don't manage to sell his vitamins. Fat Freddy is indeed hired by Mr. Natural. But when he wants his payment, Mr. Natural puts "vita-beans" in his hands and has his employees fake being attracted to that. Fat Freddy thus accepts it instead of money.

Mr. Natural himself then agrees to get paid not in money when he brings a personal delivery to the female tenant. But when she tells him about the brothers' situation, he feels sorry and has Fat Freddy spike the landlady's drink with the "vita-beans", rendering her sick for about a week.

The main character is Peter, an 11-year-old boy. The stage is first set at his funeral, where he recalls that he was killed by his neighbor's car. Then he hears a mysterious voice. It tells Peter that he has a chance to go back to any moment before his death and alter the events, therefore preventing the catastrophe.

He attempts to save himself by putting sugar in the car that was destined to kill him. However, a different car hits him instead. Luckily, he is given another chance. He tries again by trying to impress his parents, preventing the quarrel that drove him out. Unfortunately, he dies yet again by a truck.

Against all odds he is given one last chance. This time, he changes his strategy. With his knowledge of the future, he manages to save himself. He goes back 4 weeks and starts to be nice to his parents. Eventually they start to like him. He always dies after doing his puppet show so when he does it this time the family likes it. He ends up living and the story lives happily ever after.

The first volume deals mostly with the extraterrestrial agent Gary Seven and his partner Roberta Lincoln's effort to infiltrate and eventually shut down the 'Chrysalis Project' a secret yet pioneering eugenics program responsible for Khan Noonien Singh and a generation of genetically engineered superior humans. The progeny of Chrysalis are smarter, stronger, faster and more resilient than any humans born naturally would or could ever hope to be. They possess superior lungs, circulatory systems, reflexes and enhanced senses. When the story begins, Khan is about four years old, and is called "Noon". Already demonstrating remarkable charisma and leadership even among the children, he is one of (possibly the greatest of) the genetically engineered "Children of Chrysalis". While supposedly mentally and physically superior to ordinary men and women, the genetically engineered children often show signs of grandiose egos and profound psychological imbalances. The scientists of Chrysalis intend for their creations to take over the Earth by merit of the superior genetics, while the project's lead scientist (and Khan's mother) Saurina Kahr harbors an even more secret plan to release a flesh eating biological weapon upon the 'inferior' normal human race, to make way for her superior offspring. When Gary Seven and Roberta Lincoln learn about the project, Roberta goes undercover as a scientist and is sent to the project's underground complex beneath the Thar Desert in India. She finds a breakthrough genetics program, one that many sincere scientists and geneticists have come to work on. Dissent or revelation, however, are dealt with severely, often fatally. Seven is captured trying to infiltrate the base.

Once there, Roberta discovers the dark secret to Chrysalis - children born to the project who are found to have genetic aberrations from the rewriting of their DNA are kept in padded rooms and hidden from the rest of the project. Roberta frees Seven and the two attempt to resolve the crisis with the least harm and without drawing attention. Needing to halt the plan to poison the world and still rescue the children, Roberta and Gary Seven finally decide to use the project's own fail safe option and blow up the nuclear reactor that runs the underground complex. Not wishing anyone to harm innocents, they allow the staff to evacuate and use Gary's matter transporter to send the hundreds of children sired by the project (including the then-young Noonien Singh) to safety. The complex is destroyed, along with Khan's mother, who refuses to leave her life's work. The nuclear explosion is covered up as the first nuclear test by the Indian government.

Gary Seven places the children with family whenever possible, all around the world, and keeps track of the youthful superman for the next several years. Seven even initially hopes to train Khan as an agent and his eventual successor- both Khan's ambitions and innate talents need molding and mentoring. Seven feels that with the development of conscience and empathy, Khan could be a great force for the good of humanity. Unfortunately, circumstances (including the assassination of Indira Gandhi and the resultant backlash against Sikhs, as well as the poison gas disaster at Bhopal that kill thousands of his kinsman) harden Khan's resolve to rule the world. At the age of 15, he officially embraces the name and title of Khan. Khan rejects Seven's mission as timid and ineffective. He dramatically ends his on again off again uneasy relationship with Seven by invading his New York offices, destroying the Beta 5 AI supercomputer that Seven regularly employed, and threatening to kill Seven and Lincoln should they try to thwart his ambitions of world domination.

In the second volume, Seven tries to prevent World War Three from breaking out. He has to deal not only with Khan, but with many of the other "Children of Chrysalis," most of whom are now major political figures (including an African military strongman, a European dictator, an American leader of a separatist movement, and a religious cult leader).

The superhuman men and women begin to battle for power and several of them manage to gain influence. None, however, have more power than Khan. At first, Khan seems to be building an empire, but, after several assassination attempts by fellow supermen and riots of his people, he begins to lose everything.

After Khan feels that he is doomed to be defeated, he begins to power up his ''Morning Star'' satellite, which will destroy the ozone layer and kill all life on Earth after he dies. Seven convinces Khan that it would be better to forge a new life elsewhere, using the stolen DY-100 sleeper ship that he and Roberta obtained from Area 51. Khan and a large group of the other superhumans leave on the ship in search of a better life. The novel ends in 1996 as Seven leaves Earth for retirement.

The novel begins by introducing Massoud Behrani, a former Iranian air force colonel who fled from Iran after the Iranian Revolution. Because his background is military rather than professional, he has not been able to establish a career in the US and works as a trash collector and convenience store clerk. With savings, he pays the rent on an expensive apartment for his family and for an elegant wedding for his daughter. His fellow Iranian exiles, who are more successful and enjoy greater financial security, are unaware that he holds low-skilled jobs.

Meanwhile, Kathy Nicolo, a former drug addict who is still recovering from her husband’s abrupt departure, has been evicted from her home, long owned by her family, because of unpaid taxes the county wrongfully claimed she owed. When the house is placed for auction, Behrani seizes the opportunity and purchases it, depleting his son's entire college fund. He plans to renovate the house and then resell it for much more than he originally paid as a first step on the way to establishing himself in real-estate investment. He moves his family from their apartment into the house. Meanwhile, when Kathy moves out, she meets Deputy Lester Burdon. They go through the system, hiring a lawyer to fight Kathy's wrongful eviction, but although the County admits the error, Behrani insists that he will not return the house unless he's paid what it's worth, not merely the low sum he paid at auction.

In desperation, Kathy goes to the house and attempts to commit suicide twice, first trying to shoot herself and then overdosing on pills. The Behranis manage to stop her both times and she is put in a bedroom to rest. Lester breaks into the house and locks the Behranis in their bathroom at gunpoint until they agree to return the house to Kathy. When Lester takes the Behranis to the county office, Behrani's son, Esmail, retrieves the gun and is shot by authorities. When Behrani finds out in the hospital that his son has died, he is overcome with grief and rage at both Lester and Kathy. He returns to the house to find Kathy still there and attempts to strangle her. Believing Kathy to be dead, he dons his Army uniform and suffocates both himself and his wife, who had been asleep in the bedroom.

Kathy and Lester are arrested and await trial. In the novel's final scene, Kathy, unable to speak after her final encounter with Behrani, mimes a request for one more cigarette.

Sherlock Holmes enters his drawing room to find it being burgled, but on confronting the villain is surprised when the latter disappears. Holmes initially attempts to ignore the event by lighting a cigar, but upon the thief's reappearance, Holmes tries to reclaim the sack of stolen goods, drawing a pistol from his dressing gown pocket and firing it at the intruder, who vanishes. After Holmes recovers his property, the bag vanishes from his hand into that of the thief, who promptly disappears through a window. At this point, the film ends abruptly with Holmes looking "baffled".

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Mr. Acton begins the story standing over the body of Mr. Huxley, whom he has just killed. While attempting to cover up his tracks, he has flashbacks of his encounters with Mr. Huxley, with whom he is having an altercation over a woman. These flashbacks reveal to the murderer that there are more and more of his fingerprints all over the man's house, because he thought that he had touched so many different objects. His frenzy to remove all of the evidence distracts him from his actual objective, to get away with the crime. He is eventually caught, after polishing the entire house, while polishing and re-polishing the glass fruit at the bottom of a bowl.

The story involves a group of would-be burglars who attempt a daring daylight robbery of a Federal Building in Seattle, Washington. However, the criminals are forced to improvise when their getaway helicopter crashes and sets a deadly fire in the building. Also in the building is a former security guard (Eric Roberts) who is the only person who can stop the heist and save the innocent bystanders who are trapped in the burning building.

China, 400 AD. The Emperor Yuan notices a man that has created a contraption for flying. Emperor Yuan is not at all happy when he asks the inventor his purpose in creating such a device and the inventor replies that his motivation was merely the desire for innovation. Thus Yuan orders that the inventor shall be executed because, while his flying machine may be a beautiful creation, the emperor sees the devastating potential for those who "have an evil face and an evil heart" and will seek to use it for purposes other than the enjoyment of flight, namely flying over the Great Wall of China and destroying it. For this reason, the inventor is executed, the flying machine is burned, and all who saw it are silenced. But in the last line the Emperor mourns the loss of the machine, the marvel of which he appreciates but the danger of which is too great to allow its survival.

Racketeer Steve Recka, art patron and political power-maker, rules his town Madame Lan Ying, his beautiful Oriental friend and hostess with an iron hand. He meets Margaret van Kase, a socialite not impressed by his power nor his wealth, having no money herself.

John Farley is a successful self-help author of the bestseller ''Letting Go: How to Get Past Your Past'', who returns to his hometown in Nebraska to receive an award. Farley arrives home and learns that his widowed mother Beverly is dating his former P.E. teacher Jasper Woodcock. Farley disapproves of the relationship because he remembers Woodcock as an abusive bully.

Woodcock and Beverly become engaged and the majority of the film centers on Farley's attempts to convince his mother to break off the relationship, with the help of his best friend, Nedderman. Farley becomes increasingly obsessed with beating Woodcock at various competitions and with proving that Woodcock is not a suitable mate for Beverly. Farley's antics are so childish and extreme that his new love interest Tracy, a former classmate, refuses to see him again.

Farley is set to receive his award at the same ceremony where Woodcock will be presented with an award for being "Educator of the Year." Woodcock receives his award first and is praised by numerous members of the community for being a great teacher and influence on children. Farley is unconvinced and devotes his entire acceptance speech to explaining why Woodcock is the "biggest asshole on the planet." Woodcock and various crowd members refute Farley's points, and Woodcock then challenges Farley to a fight. Beverly witnesses the confrontation and dumps Woodcock.

The next day, Farley has a heart-to-heart conversation with his mother, who tells him that he is selfish and has always sabotaged her relationships with men after his father's death. Farley realizes she is correct, and after cutting short a live interview on ''The Tyra Banks Show'', Farley attempts to apologize to Woodcock. The two have a final exorcising fight, which leads to Woodcock suffering a concussion. Farley and Beverly visit Woodcock in the hospital and all three seemingly make peace. Farley declares that the key to life is not "getting past your past" but instead learning to embrace your past. He opines that Woodcock's vicious treatment in gym class helped him become the man he is today.

Woodcock and Beverly get married, Farley reunites with Tracy, and Farley goes on to write a second book entitled ''Backbone: The Definite Guide to Self Confidence.''

The three Beebe brothers are talented singers looking to make their way in the world. Joe Beebe (Bing Crosby) is a chronic gambler and a source of great consternation for his loving mother (Elizabeth Patterson), who only wishes he would follow the example of his responsible brother David (Fred MacMurray), who postpones his marriage to Martha Randall (Ellen Drew) regularly because Joe cannot support the family. Mike Beebe (Donald O'Connor), the youngest of the three brothers, idolizes his gambler brother and wants to grow up to be just like him. While Joe is always looking for an angle, convinced his only road to success is through gambling, David prefers working in his garage and dreams of the day he can afford to marry Martha.

After losing his new job at the local gas station for trading gas for rummage articles, Joe travels to Los Angeles and soon wins money at the racetrack. Using the money to purchase a swap shop, Joe then trades the store for a racehorse named Uncle Gus. After Joe sends back home glowing reports of his success, Mother Beebe and Mike travel out to California and stay with him. Later, David and Martha also travel to Los Angeles and are shocked to see the rest of their family living on the brink of poverty because of Joe's laziness. Forced once again to postpone his wedding, David sends Martha back home.

With no money coming in, Mother Beebe forces her sons to use their musical training and go to work as a singing trio at a nightclub. Meanwhile, young Mike has been chosen to ride in a big race as Uncle Gus' jockey. One of their competitors, Harry Ringmer (John Gallaudet), bribes the thirteen-year-old into losing the race. Later, when Mike reveals the arrangement to Joe, the older brother reassures him and advises him to race to win. After Mike and Uncle Gus win the race, Ringmer and one of his thugs confront Mike and Joe and beat them up. David and Mother Beebe come to their rescue, and the fight continues until Ringmer and his thug give up.

With enough money to pay their debts, David tries to quit the singing group, but his mother insists that they all keep their steady singing jobs, and her sons agree. David sends Martha a telegram asking her to come back to "marry the four of them", and the three Beebe brothers continue their singing career.

Card sharp "Babe" Stewart (Clark Gable) and his cronies, Kay Everly (Dorothy Mackaill), Charlie Vane (Grant Mitchell), and Vargas (Paul Ellis), cheat an unsuspecting Mr Morton (Walter Walker) at poker. Afterward, when Babe breaks up with his girlfriend Kay, she threatens to turn him in to the police, but he is not worried. Police officer "Dickie" Collins (J. Farrell MacDonald), who has been following Babe, then drops in to inform him that he has told Morton the truth. Worried, Babe decides to leave New York City for a while. He chooses the small town of Glendale, purely by chance.

There he meets librarian Connie Randall (Carole Lombard), who is bored to death of Glendale, and tries to get better acquainted with her. She plays hard to get, figuring it is the best way to interest someone as experienced as Babe, but finds it difficult to hide her attraction to him. When he is ready to return to New York, she appeals to the gambler in him, getting him to flip a coin to decide whether or not to get married. The coin comes up heads, and they do get married.

Babe continues his cheating ways, while letting Connie think that he has a regular job. To fill the daytime hours when he is supposedly at his job, he persuades a friend to let him work as a stock broker. He turns out to be good at it. Connie does not suspect anything until she sees Babe hide a stacked deck of cards in a secret compartment in the side of their card table prior to a fixed game one evening. She shuffles the cards and puts them back without anybody noticing. Babe and his confederates lose thousands of dollars as a result.

Afterwards, Babe is surprised when Connie is willing to stay with him, even knowing what he does for a living. He decides to take a trip to South America with Vane and Vargas, but without her. At the last minute, he realizes that he loves her, so he does not board the ship. Instead, he tells Collins to charge him with something, and, in return for a confession, he will serve 90 days in jail to pay for his past misdeeds and "come clean". However, in order to keep Connie from discovering that he is in jail, he gets Vargas to send weekly cablegrams in his name to her from South America.

A pregnant Connie receives a visit from Kay just before Babe's "return" from his travels. Kay starts to tell Connie about her husband's shady past, but is surprised to find that Connie already knows and still loves Babe. After informing Connie that Babe is in jail, Kay gives up trying to get Babe back and wishes Connie luck. When Babe gets out of jail, he purchases some South American "souvenirs", including a caged bird, from a local shop before he comes home to Connie. She asks him to tell her about where he has been. The film ends with Babe describing his fictional voyage to South America.

Jim Qwilleran is attempting to get his life back on track, starting with a new job; his old acquaintance, Arch Riker, is taking a chance. Qwilleran became known as a journalist for covering crime, but his new job at the ''Flux'' is hardly so glamorous: he's working on the art beat. The paper's resident art critic is the reclusive and decidedly unpopular one-handed man named George Bonifield Mountclemens III. Qwill visits Mountclemens and meets Koko, a male Siamese cat who appears to be able to read, but only backwards. Qwilleran rents a room from Mountclemens and starts to take care of Koko, who has rather delicate taste in eating.

Mountclemens adores some local artists and despises others. One of the former is a young woman, Zoe Lambreth, whose husband owns the Lambreth Gallery, which showcases her works among others, including Scrano, and Zoe's protégé, Nino. Mountclemens has an argument with Noel Farhar, the director of an art museum; the museum lost a million-dollar deal after a bad review from Mountclemens, and as a result Farhar is retiring.

One evening, Qwill is relaxing in the Press Club with his friend, the Flux photographer Odd Bunsen, when Bunsen is paged: there's been a murder at the Lambreth Gallery. Specifically, it's the owner, Earl Lambreth, and the gallery was left in disarray, with paintings destroyed and furniture tossed about. Qwill notices that a Ghirotto painting, or rather half of one, is missing; intact, the painting of a ballerina and monkey would be worth $150,000, but Lambreth's half, the ballerina, has disappeared.

Qwill attempts to comfort the attractive widow Lambreth, who is being protected and cared for by a friend named Butchy, also an artist and a teacher. A dagger goes missing from the art museum. Mountclemens, just returned from a trip, does not seem very interested in Earl's death.

As an art writer, Qwill goes to a "happening" featuring Nino. Nino's creations are made from things that people throw away, things that have meaning to him that others may not necessarily understand. The show ends disastrously, when one of Nino's creations is knocked from its scaffolding, and Nino falls to his death attempting to save it.

Qwill has more theories than real sympathy for the recently deceased. Nino didn't like Earl Lambreth. Butchy didn't like the friendship between Zoe and Nino. Could Butchy have pushed Nino to his death? Meanwhile, the dagger and the Ghirotto are both found. Defeated in possible conspiracy theories, Qwill returns home to Koko. Koko leads Qwill upstairs to Mountclemens' flat, where they find Mountclemens lying dead at the bottom of his fire escape.

Qwill continues to take care of the Siamese, and the next day, Koko leads him upstairs to retrieve his blue cushion and his favorite "mousie" toy, nicknamed Minty Mouse. In the course of searching for the Minty Mouse, Qwill finds Mountclemens' stash of paintings, which includes a half-painting of a monkey. It is the match to the Ghirotto ballerina that Earl Lambreth owned. Mountclemens had offered to buy Earl's half from him, not letting on that he owned the other half. However, Earl had something else Mountclemens wanted, or rather someone—Zoe had been leading the critic on by flirting with him in order to stay in his good graces. Mountclemens might have killed Earl, but his name is on the airline's list of passengers, and Qwill believes this proves he was out of town. Zoe interrupts Qwill's contemplation, and he invites her to the Press Club for lunch.

At the Press Club, Zoe gives credence to Qwill's theories. She tells him Mountclemens owned the Lambreth Gallery, and Earl had been maintaining two sets of books, one real and one falsified. Earl had threatened to expose Mountclemens in order to stop his relationship with Zoe. This would have put Mountclemens in jail. Zoe believes Mountclemens killed Earl, and had someone fly under his name to provide himself with an alibi.

Returning to the apartment, Qwill is in a quiet mood. Could Zoe have killed Mountclemens? She didn't seem unhappy to see the art critic dead. Koko leads Qwill to the old apartment again, where he knocks a knife off the counter. In the broom closet is a flashlight, but why wasn't there one by Mountclemens' body? Unless in being one handed, Mountclemens chose a knife over a flashlight? Yet he wasn't wearing his false hand, and the art critic was vain enough to wear it if he had an assignation with Zoe.

Koko growls at the door of the abandoned studio, and Qwill enters to find that several of the paintings have vanished, and the remaining ones are highly valuable Scranos. As Koko runs his nose over the signature backwards (ONARCS), the painter Qwill knew as Narx—but readers had never previously been introduced too—entered. Narx reached for the knife lying on the table, but Koko deflects his attack by leaping upon him and Qwill hits Narx with the flashlight.

Back at the Press Club, Qwill recounted the adventure, pointing out that Narx drew robotic drawings that resembled himself, and was clearly also O. Narx since the paintings' texture was so similar. Koko's reading the signature backwards merely confirmed this. Though Mountclemens could no longer paint or draw when he lost his hand, he could still instruct others, and Scrano had painted for him. In the art critic's last review, he said there would be no more art coming from Scrano which led Qwill to think that Mountclemens had intended on killing him, but Narx killed Mountclemens.

Once Scrano woke up, he confirmed Qwill's story. Qwill had, however, guessed wrong about Butchy and Zoe. Butchy had tried to save Nino and hurt herself in the process. Zoe had had murderous intent but never followed up on it. Upon his return to the apartment, Qwill asked Koko: Had it been all a coincidence, when Koko led him up to the closet with the monkey painting was it simply for a lost toy? Koko gave the man no answers, just removed an itch with a hind paw and a contented look.

Category:1966 novels Could Read Backwards Category:E. P. Dutton books Category:Novels about cats

Barney Shirrel (Oakie) starts his first semester at Mid West University and works his way up in the fraternity with the help of Tex Roust (Joe Sawyer) and Mondrake (Arlen), an alcoholic college football star. Barney is passionate about engineering and the law, and between his varied studies, football, and the fraternity, he neglects his girl friend Amber (Kornman). In the next term, Mondrake gives his class sweater to Barney's sister Barbara (Carlisle). His drinking problem intensifies, however, when he learns that Barbara is falling in love with Professor Danvers (Crosby), the singing drama teacher. When Mondrake fails to show up at an important football game against a rival university, Danvers finds him in jail. With the school's reputation at stake, Danvers has him released and takes him to the football field in time to play in the game.

Afterwards, Danvers is called before the college president (Lumsden Hare). Although rivals for Barbara's affections, Danvers stands up for Mondrake. The college president expels Mondrake for drunkenness and forces Danvers to resign because of his involvement in the matter. Feeling guilty over causing Mondrake's expulsion, Barbara proposes marriage to him. Later, however, she admits that she is not in love with him, but with Danvers. Mondrake bows out of the relationship, and Barbara rushes to Danvers' side before he leaves.

During the next term, Barney has followed Mondrake's example and taken up drinking and smoking, which is not appealing to Amber. At the big football game, Barney is in sorry shape. Mid West is losing until he receives inspiration from Tex, who has returned to watch the game. After being knocked out, Barney recovers and wins the game for Mid West. Some time later, Barney and Amber get married and they move to his father's dairy, where Barney works his way up from the lowest position. Barney and Amber enjoy listening to Danvers singing his song on the radio.

Triad boss Lung survives an assassination attempt in a restaurant, with one of his men being killed during the hit. The restaurant is owned by "Fat Cheung", an underboss of Lung's triad.

To ensure his safety, Lung's right hand man and brother, Frank has hired five bodyguards to stay close to their boss 24/7; Curtis normally works as a hairdresser and is the considered to be a veteran of the group, the loner James, night club owner Roy and his younger gang colleague Shin and Mike, a former pimp.

An initial assassination attempt on Lung fails when a sniper attacks the cars with Lung and his bodyguards from the rooftop of a high-rise. Lung gets shot, but a bullet-proof vest prevents further damage. The men manage to fight off the attack and Curtis decides to leave in the cars with Lung, James, Mike and Shin even though Roy hasn't returned (he left the scene to pursue a second attacker). Roy returns angrily in a taxi to Lung's house and beats up Curtis (who doesn't oppose). The next day Curtis makes amends by killing a criminal who harassed Roy's night club.

The five bodyguards are fighting off two additional assassination attempts and trail a surviving hitman to the hideout of the attackers. After a gunfight they manage to capture one of the assassins alive. It becomes evident that the hits were contracted by Fat Cheung and Lung sends his henchmen Frank to kill him. The bodyguards kill the captured hitman and the five men celebrate the end of their mission in a restaurant.

Frank hands out five envelopes with the pay to Curtis and tells him that he learnt about an affair between Shin and the wife of Lung. He requests that Shin executed and Curtis tells him that he'll handle it. Curtis drives to James, asks him for a gun and arranges a meeting with Shin in the evening. James warns Roy and since he's responsible for Shin as his boss, he confronts him with the allegation. Shin confesses having been seduced by Mrs. Lung. Roy tells Curtis that he can't allow for Shin to be killed. They form the plan to have Shin escape in a boat to Taiwan but eventually discard the plan since Frank would then pursue Roy and the rest of them for failing instead.

In the evening the five men meet in an otherwise empty restaurant to sort out the situation. James leaves to ask Lung for clemency and to spare Shin's life. When he arrives at Lung's house he witnesses a henchmen of Lung killing the unfaithful Mrs. Lung. James realises the hopelessness of his attempt and returns to the restaurant where it comes to a Mexican standoff between the men. Curtis shoots Shin, while Roy empties his magazine without aiming at Curtis. When the men leave the restaurant, Curtis throws a blank towards James, thus revealing that the death of Shin (who escapes through the backdoor) was staged for Lung.

Angela May wakes in her bedroom to find her mother, Dido, in the garden trimming the grass using a scythe. Angela calls out to her mother and asks her to share the story of how she and her father met, and her subsequent birth. Dido shares the story of how she was in love with a married man, and he with her, but he could not leave his family. However, Dido did not want to be left with nothing, so became pregnant with Angela. Angela asks if Dido would want to be with him now, but her mother dismisses the notion.

Meanwhile, at Tycho's house his family receive a phone call from his sister Africa, who has had a fight with her husband and wishes to leave him. However, before the family have a chance to go collect her, she rings up having changed her mind. Richard, Tycho's brother, teases Tycho about his “girlfriend” Angela but Tycho insists they are just friends. Angela does indeed come to see Tycho that morning, under the pretence of him offering her a lift to a school event. Angela wishes to play truant but Tycho refuses.

After they have finished, Angela insists the two go somewhere because she has something important to show Tycho. She takes him to an expensive cafe where they wait, though Angela will not tell Tycho what for. Eventually a man enters the establishment and Tycho immediately notices the resemblance between him and Angela - his is in fact Roland Chase, Angela's father, and owner of a large company. Angela stands up and her father, previously unaware she was there, catches sight of her. He does not look pleased.

Angela decides to go and see Roland Chase and confront him. Tycho tries to dissuade her, but eventually agrees to drive her there and wait for her. Her father sees her waiting for him, and takes her into his office. However the meeting does not go well. Roland Chase implies that she may not even be his daughter, as her mother had been involved with many men. He has never thought about her and never given the family any money, even though Dido had claimed he had. it also turns out that he is not married and has no official children.

Whilst Angela is there, Roland Chase's mother (and Angela's biological grandmother) bursts into the office, insisting on seeing her son. Roland introduces the two, and the grandmother seems interested in learning more about Angela. It turns out the two share the same name. Angela is still upset and angry, and leaves.

Angela calls her mother at work and tells her what has happened. Angela is extremely angry and tells her mother to drive her car off the dangerous road that the two live on. Tycho finds her in a telephone box. She refuses to tell him what has happened, and so Tycho gives her some money and leaves her be.

Tycho returns home, where he uses the excuse of wanting to see the occultation of two of Jupiter's moons to get out of going to his sister's for a party that evening. After they have left, he calls Dido, but Angela has not returned yet. He later receives a call from Richard telling him that his father was taken ill, and the family would be staying the night at Africa's.

After hanging up, Tycho turns to find Angela in his house, looking a mess. She tells him how after the meeting with her father, she wanted to do something to make her feel degraded. She went to a rough bar, where she had a man buy her several Fallen Angel cocktails. Leaving the bar she went with him to the river bank intending to have sex with him, but she changed her mind and ran off through the river.

Angela then reveals to Tycho that she is a virgin, something that not many people would think about her. They discuss why she had kept this a secret, and she said she liked having something about herself other people did not know. Tycho sends her to go and phone her mother, but on the way to Angela sees a present that she had bought Tycho on the table. It is her own T-shirt bearing the legend "The Ionians Rule". This is her way of telling Tycho that she wishes to be with him, and the two spend the night together.

In the morning the two remember they had not called Dido and are unable to get a response when they try. They decide to walk to Angela's house, as Tycho does not have the car and no buses run on a Sunday. As they are walking up the road they see a car veer off the bridge and down the slope and Angela believes this may be her mother's car. They run off down the slope to investigate.

However the vehicle was actually that of Angela's neighbours Phil and Jerry Cherry. Phil had been thrown clear, but Jerry was trapped inside the vehicle. Tycho manages to get Jerry clear, but only just, and the car explodes. Dido then arrives and an ambulance soon follows. Tycho, who received burns when saving Jerry, is taken to hospital as well, and Angela leaves with her mother.

Arriving home, Tycho finds that his sister Africa and her child are there. She has been having an affair and has now left her husband. A reporter turns up at the door, and suddenly the family realise Tycho is actually injured, and want to know what has happened.

At home, Angela receives a phone call from her paternal grandmother, who wishes to get to know her better, but Angela is not interested. Dido tells Angela that her grandmother had actually given her money to have an abortion, which Dido had instead used to buy things for a newborn. Tycho comes to visit her and Angela asks him not to tell Dido about their relationship, but the way the two behave makes it obvious.

''Saint October'' concerns a group of three girls and the detective agency they work for called the in . The story begins during a case to catch a mysterious masked kidnapper who has been kidnapping young boys for a strange man he answers to as his boss and leader. Kotono is a young girl and a member of the agency, who, due to her young age, is working harder during this case. One night after returning home late alone, Kotono runs into a young boy who's crying alone. With nowhere else to take him, Kotono brings him back to her home at Joshua's church where it is discovered that he has amnesia and cannot remember even his own name. While there, Natsuki Shirafuji, Kotono's friend and fellow detective, arrives to add further information to the kidnapping case. Suddenly, the masked kidnapper appears and successfully kidnaps the boy, but Kotono chases after him and gets the boy back after a short scuffle. Just when all looks lost, the boy uses a magical power to bestow unto Kotono a similar power in order to defeat the kidnapper. After she won, he reveals that he has remembered what his name is: Ewan. Now the focus has turned to who is the kidnapper's boss who has been pursuing Ewan.

Writer Maurice Bendrix settles in London in 1943-44 after being wounded in the war. His affair with Sarah Miles, wife of civil servant Henry Miles, "grows into a deep and abiding passion." Maurice becomes jealous. He wants to marry, but she won't leave Henry, yet.

The apartment Maurice lives in is hit by a buzz bomb. He revives, pulls himself from rubble to find Sarah kneeling on the floor of his room. As she tends to his wounds, he asks why she was kneeling. She says she was praying and was certain he was dead. She stares at him, her face wet with tears, then leaves abruptly. He runs after her to find the street empty. Maurice suffers from delayed shock and is bedridden for several days. When he recovers, he tries to reach Sarah, in vain, and his "jealousy turns to hate."

A year later, the war is over. Maurice struggles with his book and his hate for Sarah. One rainy night, he sees Henry. Henry is worried about Sarah, and invites Maurice to his home for a drink. Sarah, who "is out at all hours" returns home soaking wet, and is vague and detached with both of them.

Maurice confronts Sarah, who takes all the blame. Parkis, a private investigator, reports to Maurice in the darkened flat. He describes Maurice's meeting with Sarah in detail, interpreting it as a final parting and describing Sarah as "looking ready to weep her eyes out." Maurice reveals himself, saying the parting was long ago.

Parkis has the bottom of a discarded note in Sarah's handwriting that reads "nothing matters except that we should be together, now and forever." Parkis obtains Sarah's journal, observing that she appears to be very ill.

Maurice reads the journal. We hear Sarah's voice describing the past year. Maurice lies in the rubble. She takes his hand, then returns to his room. Weeping, she prays: "I love him, I'll do anything... I'll give Maurice up forever, only just let him be alive!" Maurice calls her name. She plans to tell him about her "hysterical" promise, but then he seems to remember what it was like to be dead. "Now the agony of being without you starts," she writes. At home, Henry tells her that Maurice has been taken to a hospital with delayed shock.

Suddenly Sarah wants Maurice beside her. She confides in a Catholic priest and asks: "What does God want with me?" She lights a candle and for the first time in months feels "a little tremble of happiness." At home, she finds Maurice with Henry. It took "everything she had" to walk up the stairs. She writes a love letter, records it in the diary and tears it up, creating the scrap of paper Parkis found.

She tells her friend, Richard Smythe, that she is going back to Maurice because she believes that God will love her even if she breaks her vow. But when Henry tells her how much he needs her, she promises not to leave him. The diary ends with a cry of pain and love for Maurice. He closes the journal and phones her.

She begs him not to come. He pursues her to the church, through pouring rain, promising they will be together. Maurice comes to the house and finds Sarah is dying.

At home, he finds a letter from Sarah that says she can never see him again, and that she has never loved as she loves him. Maurice replies: "Have it your way Sarah. I believe that you live and that He exists. But I'm tired. Just give me a little time..."

The story begins with Andrews fleeing his fellow smugglers after a battle with the customs officials that ended with one of the customs officials dead. He stumbles upon an isolated cottage which is the home of Elizabeth. The man whom she lived with has recently died. Andrews helps protect Elizabeth from the neighbors who consider her to be a woman of loose moral character (the novel is silent about whether their view is justified or not). After encountering Carlyon, the head of the smugglers, in the fog, Andrews returns to the cottage where Elizabeth persuades him that he should testify at the trial of the smugglers at the Assizes in Lewes.

Andrews travels to Lewes and gives his testimony in court despite being scorned by the other witnesses for the prosecution as a Judas figure. The trial ends with the smugglers being acquitted and their pledging to revenge themselves on Andrews by hurting Elizabeth.

Andrews returns to Elizabeth's cottage, tells her of the danger. She sends him to the well to fetch water, and while he is gone, he discovers that one of the smugglers has come to the cottage. He runs to get help, but when he returns, he discovers that Elizabeth has killed herself while being attacked by one of the smugglers. Carlyon is sitting waiting for him. After realizing that the only way to betray his father is to hurt himself, Andrews tells Carlyon to leave and that he will take the blame for Elizabeth's death.

Tefeeda is a girl who leaves her brother-in-law, who was forcing her to steal. She hides with a friend who lives with three young men, and one of them, starts flirting with her, but she resists him. She marries her friend after the man tries to separate them several times. The story climaxes with a mysterious murder investigation.

In the Buheirat rural area, lives Ehsan (Faten Hamama) with her father (Abdel Waress Assar) who tends and takes care of a rich family's house. In his breaks, her father usually goes hunting with his friends. In the house, Ehsan, who is usually left alone with the rich man's son, Mamdouh (Imad Hamdi), falls in love with him, but he doesn't share her love. This man notices her beauty and he eventually falls in love with her, only secretly.

One day, he arrives home drunk. He assaults and rapes her. Weeks later, she discovers that she became pregnant, but decides not to reveal that to her father. Instead, she travels to Cairo, changes her name to Amal, and months later, she gives birth to a daughter (Nadia Zulficar). Years later, Ehsan (Amal) graduates as a nurse, and Mamdouh, who had traveled to Europe to complete his studies, graduates as a doctor.

He returns to Cairo to work in a hospital, where luck and coincidence brings him and her together, except he does not recognize her. A love relationship starts between the two. Ehsan's father learns of her location and travels to see his missing daughter. Meanwhile, Ehsan reveals the truth to Mamdouh, and both agree to marry each other. The father arrives to find his daughter has married a man and started a family.

Macon Leary (William Hurt) is a Baltimore writer of travel guides for reluctant business travelers, which detail how best to avoid unpleasantness and difficulty.

His marriage to his wife Sarah (Kathleen Turner) is disintegrating in the aftermath of the murder of their 12-year-old son, Ethan. Sarah eventually leaves Macon, moving out of their house and into an apartment. After he falls down the basement stairs and breaks his leg, Macon returns to his childhood home to stay with his eccentric siblings.

Macon is pursued by Muriel Pritchet (Geena Davis), an animal hospital employee and dog trainer with a sickly son. Macon eventually hires Muriel to put his dog through much-needed obedience training. Although Muriel at first seems brash and unsophisticated, Macon eventually finds himself opening up to her and trusting her, and he moves into her apartment. When Sarah's apartment lease is up, she moves back into their old home and suggests to Macon that they start over. Macon leaves Muriel, and he and Sarah set up house once more.

When Macon visits Paris for research, Muriel surprises him by showing up on the same flight and stays in the same Paris hotel, recommended by Macon in one of his travel guides. She suggests that they enjoy themselves as if they are vacationing together. Macon insists he is there strictly for business, and although he shows concern for how Alexander is doing, keeps Muriel at arm's length.

During Macon's last night in Paris, Muriel asks to go with him, and despite an early flight she tells him he doesn't have to reply just now. Waking up in the middle of the night Macon decides to call Muriel but his telephone malfunctions. Macon gets up and while trying to fix the cord, hurts his back and becomes bedridden. Muriel knocks on his door waking him up but before he can decide what to do Muriel assumes he has gone already and leaves. Mustering the strength to go to the front desk, Macon phones his publisher to inform him of his back pain. Sarah comes to Paris, sent by Macon's sister Rose, to care and make day-trips for him in order to complete his travel guide. Sarah proposes that after finishing the day trips if he is feeling better they can go sightseeing, reschedule the flight for a later date and make the trip a second honeymoon to which Macon agrees. However, Sarah tells him that she has run into Muriel when she arrived and as such continues to question Macon about his attraction to Muriel, angering Macon.

The next morning, Macon dresses while Sarah still sleeps, then wakes her to tell her that he is going back to Muriel. On his way to the airport, Macon spots Muriel hailing a taxi and tells the driver to stop. Thinking the driver stopped for her, Muriel bends to gather her luggage and catches sight of Macon in the taxi. She smiles, and Macon returns the smile.

Lieutenant Brian Hawke, an officer aboard the British merchant ship ''The Monsoon'', volunteers for a dangerous mission to infiltrate the pirates' base at Diego Suarez on the coast of Madagascar. He and two trusted crewmen, Jones and Harris, pose as deserters; to make his disguise more convincing, he is given twenty lashes. When they arrive in Diego Suarez, they arouse the suspicions of the pirates, especially Captain Roc Brasiliano. Brasiliano orders Hawke to appear before a tribunal of the Coast Captains to decide his fate. If they do not believe him, he will be executed. Meanwhile, Hawke has caught the eye of Spitfire Stevens - the only woman among the Coast Captains - who inherited her position from her father. This irritates Brasiliano, who wants Spitfire.

To prove himself, Hawke is forced to duel a pirate (caught stealing from Brasiliano) with boarding pikes, managing to outfight him. He joins Brasiliano's crew. While cruising the shipping lanes, they come across and capture a Moghul vessel crammed with luxuries and vast wealth. Patma, the daughter of the Moghul Emperor, is disguised by her chaperone Molvina MacGregor as just an ordinary woman, then hidden. She falls in love with Hawke after he rescues her from the burning ship, admitting he is only the third man she has ever seen.

When they return to Diego-Suarez, Spitfire becomes jealous of Patma. When Patma is put up for auction, she outbids Hawke (who wanted to protect her from the other pirates) and takes the Indian princess into her service. In a candid moment, Spitfire tells Hawke she is planning to leave for Britain via Brazil and leave her criminal life behind. She wants Hawke to accompany her there. Brasiliano's hatred for Hawke grows.

Hawke gathers information about the pirate base and steals a map of the defences. It is planned that a Royal Navy warship will sail into the harbour, with Hawke disabling the cannons. Hawke gives a signal to the British ship with a flare, and makes sure the Moghul princess is ready to be rescued. Unfortunately, Hawke's plans are uncovered by Brasiliano. Hawke is tied to a stake on the beach, to bitten by crabs and drowned in the rising tide. Spitfire pretends to stab him in the back to end his suffering, but instead cuts the ropes binding him to the stake.

At that moment, a British warship enters the bay. The pirates expect to easily sink it as they had several Portuguese warships that recently attempted to storm the harbour. To their surprise, their cannons explode, having been double-shotted. Faced with imminent defeat and hanging, Brasiliano uses the princess as a human shield to sail away. The British do not dare fire. However, Hawke and his two men have slipped aboard and manage to rescue the hostage and fight off the crew, with Spitfire's help. Hawke eventually duels and kills Brasiliano. Hawke requests and is granted Spitfire's freedom, and the two kiss.

Two young friends, Mnesilochus and Pistoclerus, have fallen in love with two sisters, and both are prostitutes named Bacchis. Mnesilochus's Bacchis has been hired for a year by Cleomachus. In order to get the money to buy her release Mnesilochus asks Chrysalus, the clever slave, to extort money from Mnesilochus' father Nicobulus (a common recipe in Greek and Roman comedies). Chrysalus succeeds in getting two hundred coins from the old man but then Pistoclerus announces his love for Bacchis. Mnesilochus, not knowing that there is more than one Bacchis, hands back the money to his father and reveals the whole deception and Chrysalus's part in it. Then the truth comes out – There are two Bacchises and Pistoclerus loves the other Bacchis! In despair Mnesilochus returns to Chrysalus and begs him to try to get money from Nicobulus again. Chrysalus agrees and tricks Nicobulus out of his money by saying that Mnesilochus is in trouble because he has fallen in love with a soldier's wife. He claims that the only way to get Mnesilochus out of trouble is to pay the soldier. Nicobulus falls for the trick and gives over the money. Soon he finds out that he has been deceived, and with Philoxenus he storms the brothel. Nicobulus demands his son and gold back. Bacchis offers the old man half of his gold back if he comes in. Philoxenus and Nicobulus soon give into Bacchis and her sister. They enter the brothel

On November 17, 1941, on Governor's Island in New York City, Captain Rick Leland is court-martialed and discharged from the United States Army Coast Artillery Corps after he is caught stealing. He tries to join the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry but is coldly rebuffed. Ostensibly on his way to China to fight for Chiang Kai-shek, he boards a Japanese ship, the ''Genoa Maru,'' sailing from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Yokohama via the Panama Canal and Hawaii.

On board, he meets Canadian Alberta Marlow who claims to be from Medicine Hat, and a lighthearted romance begins. The other passengers are Dr. Lorenz and his servant, T. Oki. Lorenz, a professor of sociology, admires the Japanese and therefore is very unpopular in the Philippines, where he resides. Leland, in turn, makes it clear that he will fight for anyone willing to pay him enough.

During a stop in New York City, Leland is revealed as a secret agent when he reports to Colonel Hart, an undercover Army Intelligence officer. Lorenz is a known enemy spy, but Hart and Leland are uncertain about Marlow. Hart also warns him to look out for a Japanese criminal named Totsuiko. Returning to the ship, Leland surprises a Filipino assassin about to shoot Lorenz. Leland gains Lorenz's confidence by remaining indifferent when Lorenz has the man killed. Joe Totsuiko embarks as a passenger, in the guise of a wise-cracking young Nisei, and a different man returns as T. Oki. Lorenz pays Leland in advance for information concerning the military installations guarding the Panama Canal.

In Panama, the captain announces that Japanese ships are being denied entry into the Canal and must detour around Cape Horn. Leland, Marlow and Lorenz wait for another vessel at Sam's hotel. Crates addressed to Dan Morton, Bountiful Plantation, are unloaded. Lorenz demands that Leland procure up-to-date schedules for the air patrol. On December 6, 1941, Leland meets with his local contact, A. V. Smith, and convinces him to provide real timetables, as Lorenz would recognize fakes. Smith adds that plantation owner Dan Morton is a rich dipsomaniac and that Marlow is a buyer for Rogers Fifth Avenue in New York City.

Leland hands over the schedules and is brutally beaten. He revives several hours later and immediately calls Smith, warning him to change the patrol schedule. Smith is killed after Leland hangs up. Lorenz and Marlow are gone. Sam sends Leland to a cinema, where a man whispers, "Go Bountiful Plantation..." and is killed. At the plantation, Leland sees a torpedo bomber being prepared. He is captured and brought to Lorenz. Also present are Totsuiko, Marlow, Dan Morton, and the second T. Oki, who turns out to be a Japanese prince and pilot. Morton, whose weakness was exploited by the enemy agents to gain a base for their activities, is Marlow's father. Her only stake in the affair is his welfare.

Lorenz reveals that Smith is dead, so the prince can destroy the Panama Canal locks without interference. Totsuiko is left to guard the prisoners. When Morton staggers to his feet, Totsuiko shoots him, but that enables Leland to overpower Totsuiko. Outside, Leland seizes a machine gun, shoots down the bomber as it is taking off, and dispatches Lorenz's henchmen. In the house, a defeated Lorenz attempts to commit seppuku, but his nerve fails him. He begs Leland to kill him. Leland refuses, telling Lorenz he "has a date with Army Intelligence." Leland and Marlow clasp hands and look up at a sky filling with American planes.

An alien named Baltazar has set his sights on Earth, planning to compress its population into diamonds. The Tenth Doctor and Martha Jones arrive on his ship, which he hand-crafted himself, to stop him. The Doctor threatens him with a spoon, which Baltazar cuts in half with his metal claw hand. The spoon happens to be made of a special fungus, which when introduced to the metal ship quickly begins to rust it. As the ship falls apart, the Doctor frees Baltazar's huge metallic bird, Caw, who carries Baltazar away. The Doctor muses that Baltazar will end up on the ice prison planet Volag-Noc at some point.

Some time later, Caw takes the Doctor and Martha to his home planet, where he gives Martha a brooch as a gift. He also spits up a datachip, explaining that it and three others like it hold the location of ''The Infinite'', an ancient spaceship that can grant people their heart's desire. Each datachip leads to the next one. At first unwilling to search for it and about to destroy the chip, the Doctor is forced to when Caw notes that Baltazar has a copy of the datachip. As the two set off on their quest, Caw is revealed to be working for Baltazar.

The first chip leads to the planet Boukan, where the pirate captain Kaliko is raiding the living oil rigs they find there. She is wearing the next datachip as an earring. Assuming the Doctor and Martha to be spies for the oil companies, Kaliko tells her crew of skeletons to throw them overboard, unaware that her first mate, Mr. Swabb Mate, is in fact the spy, as he has been promised a new body. Swabb stages a mutiny and has the oil rigs shoot down the ship, but their poor aim causes them to scatter the crew in doing so. After Swabb is knocked out by being knocked off the ship, the Doctor reveals the reason for their visit to Kaliko. She tries to escape in a pod, but is found murdered after landing near the TARDIS. With nothing left to do, the Doctor and Martha take her datachip and follow it to the next one.

The next chip is on the planet Myarr, being used as a necklace by a lizard alien named Mergrass. Mergrass has been hired to advise the Mantasphids, alien bugs, on military strategy against the humans attacking them, but in reality is little more than a gun-runner. During an attack by the humans, a pilot is captured. He reveals that the Mantasphids invaded the planet for its fertile dung, and that the humans were there first. To rid themselves of the bugs, the humans have decided to bomb the entire hundred-mile area. The Mantasphid Queen turns to Mergrass for help, but is unwilling to pay him for it, and as such he refuses to arm the weapons he provided her with. As Mergrass leaves, the Doctor is forced to defuse the situation by impersonating the supposed pirate-master, Doctor Vile, of the Mantasphid, which proves successful. Quickly telling the pilot to work with the Mantasphid for the benefit of both species, he follows after Mergrass. By this point, Mergrass has also been killed, so again the Doctor and Martha take the left-behind datachip and head for the next planet.

The final datachip is on the ice prison planet Volag-Noc. Upon arriving, the Doctor is quickly identified as a wanted criminal, sentenced to 2,000,000,000 yrs and dumped in a cell with a damaged robot. Martha is taken to the Governor of the facility, a human named Gurney. He has the final datachip locked in a safe. As they discuss things, both Martha, when Gurney says nobody was to be locked in the cell where the Doctor is, and the Doctor discover that Gurney isn't the Governor, but one of the prisoners. Locke, the robot with whom the Doctor is sharing a cell, is in fact the Governor. The Doctor apparently shouldn't have been put in the cell in the first place. Upon being fixed by the Doctor, Locke decides that all the prisoners are irredeemable and orders their execution, giving Gurney a chance to shoot Locke and escape with the datachip. The Doctor manages to prevent the prisoners' execution.

On the surface, Martha catches up to Gurney, but can do little to stop him without a weapon. At the same time, however, Baltazar arrives riding Caw. Gurney shoots down Caw, but is apparently dispatched by Baltazar off-screen. Caw dies from the damage caused by Gurney's shot while the Doctor and Martha comfort him, claiming he was promised "all the gold he can eat". Baltazar then takes the two hostage, forcing the Doctor to show the way to ''The Infinite''. He also reveals that Martha's "brooch" is actually Squawk, Caw's child, which flies to the body of his parent. Once the Doctor locks in ''The Infinite'''s location, Baltazar takes control of the TARDIS – as flying the TARDIS involves little more than a button-press, he no longer needs the Doctor, and knocks him out with a blast. He leaves the Doctor to perish in the snow.

On ''The Infinite'', Baltazar orders Martha to find the hold, which she does by accidentally falling through the deck. In the hold, Martha finds the Doctor waiting for her, but quickly realises that it is a creation of the ship: the ship is doing as promised. The real Doctor is close by, however, riding a matured Squawk. He quickly knocks Baltazar out and comes to Martha's aid. The Doctor informs her she just has to reject the vision, which she does, causing it to fade away. ''The Infinite'' tries to find the Doctor's heart's desire but he wards it off. He explains that for him it has been nearly three years, in which time he weaned Squawk and helped re-establish Volag-Noc, making sure to tone down the somewhat homicidal Governor. He further explains that the desires granted by ''The Infinite'' are little more than illusions, the last spark of whatever powerful being died within its walls. Baltazar has not yet realised this; he is standing in a treasure room, oblivious to Martha's warnings about the illusion. The Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver to vibrate the wreckage, causing the ship to fall apart. He and Martha flee in the TARDIS, leaving Baltazar to rely on Squawk, who has been trained by the Doctor to take Baltazar back to Volag-Noc to be imprisoned. With the day saved, the Doctor and Martha resume their adventures.

Continuity

As Martha is traveling freely with the Doctor, the story may be set somewhere between the series three episodes "42" (which follows directly on from Martha's invitation to long-term travel in "The Lazarus Experiment") and "Utopia" (which begins the series finale). However, the Character Bios on the DVD release state that Martha is traveling with the Doctor for one more trip, which seems to set it before "The Lazarus Experiment". The Doctor states in both the first and third segment that the serial takes place in the 40th century. Caw indicates that many years have passed between the first and second episode, in which time Baltazar has gone to prison, supposedly sold out by Caw, and has since got out again.

The Doctor names various other beings from the same time as ''The Infinite'' including the Nestenes (''Spearhead from Space'', ''Terror of the Autons'', "Rose", "The Pandorica Opens"), the Great Vampires (''State of Decay'') and the Racnoss, ("The Runaway Bride"), all of which he has met.

While walking the ice cold wastes of the prison planet in his regular clothes, the Doctor seems quite unaffected by the cold. This was a trait shown by the Second Doctor in ''The Tomb of the Cybermen'', the Fourth Doctor in ''The Seeds of Doom'' and ''The Hand of Fear'', the Ninth Doctor in "The Unquiet Dead" and the Tenth Doctor in "Planet of the Ood", and an improvement over how the First Doctor responded to cold – not just subzero cold – in ''The Space Museum''.

Outside references

The Doctor compares Baltazar to Napoleon Bonaparte, Boudica, and Blackbeard. The former appeared in ''The Reign of Terror'' while the latter appears as a fictional character in ''The Mind Robber''. The Doctor also refers to Delia Smith, Fanny Cradock, and Madame Cholet from ''The Wombles'' as among Earth's greatest chefs. Martha refers to Bill Oddie, who played the pirate captain Red Jasper in the Big Finish audio adventure ''Doctor Who and the Pirates''.

Pilot Kelvin describes the final weapon to be deployed on Myarr using the phrase "kills all known bugs, dead." This is similar to the UK advertising slogan for the bleach Domestos. Baltazar's promise to Caw of "as much gold as he could eat" is a reference to Monty Python's ''Life of Brian'' in which the same promise is given by Naughtius Maximus to Brian's mother.

Kenan (Mario Drmać), a Bosniak classical musician, and Milan (Tarik Filipović), a Serb, live in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina in a clandestine gay relationship. When the Bosnian War breaks out in 1992, they try to escape from the city. In order to hide from Serbian militiamen, Kenan disguises himself as a woman and Milan passes him off as his wife. Together, they go to Milan's village in Eastern Bosnia, a Serb stronghold, where they continue to live in deception. However, Milan is soon conscripted into the army and Kenan is left behind in the village. Ranka, a woman from the village, discovers Kenan's secret and seduces him.

Dr. Light and Dr. Wily were brilliant scientists in the field of robotics, who worked together in a laboratory trying to advance the science. One day, they finished an extremely advanced prototype, but shortly after being activated, it started destroying the laboratory. Dr. Light immediately believed that the prototype's guidance system, which Dr. Wily had personally programmed, was the source of the problem and concluded they would start over again. Angered, Dr. Wily attempted to steal the plans later that night, but Dr. Light catches him. Wily is able to steal the plans after knocking Dr. Light down, and goes off to what is apparently an abandoned area, and modifies the old robot prototype into Proto Man.

Later, Dr. Light builds Rock and Roll, advanced robots with personalities, along with Ice Man, Guts Man, and Cut Man. Dr. Wily and Proto Man go and steal the robots, reprogramming the latter three robots as henchmen. Dr. Wily attempts to reprogram Rock and Roll at his lab later, but Rock decides to trick Dr. Wily. He tells Dr. Wily that Dr. Light also built "super warrior robots", and that if Rock and Roll are let go, he'll tell him how to defeat the robots. Rock uses this lie (Dr. Wily believing robots can't lie) to cause a distraction and escape with Roll. Dr. Light decides to reprogram and reoutfit Rock into Mega Man, who from then on keeps the world safe. This tale is told in Episode 1, "The Beginning".

Throughout the episodes, Mega Man thwarts Wily's various schemes, in a similar fashion to that of the ''Super Friends'', usually ending with Rush acting in similar vein to Scooby-Doo.

Baptista Minola is attempting to marry off his two daughters; however, he will marry off his youngest, Bianca only if someone will marry his eldest, Katherina. Katherina is an ill-tempered shrewish woman but a lusty young nobleman, Petruchio, takes on the challenge of taming and marrying her. A subplot involves the wooing of Bianca by several suitors including handsome Lucentio, foppish Hortensio, and elderly Gremio.

They are two brothers… and they are twins. Radoslav is a young and talented soccer player, playing in a team from Varna, while Radosvet is an impossible gambler, chased by the police. Radoslav meets the beautiful Elena on the beach and they fall in love. However, she is from Sofia and soon takes the train home. After a bit of confusion, instead of the address of Elena, Radoslav gets a completely useless piece of paper. Elena seems like a lost dream but he is soon determined to go to Sofia, walk along the streets and find her.

In the meantime, three soccer teams, one of which from Sofia, decide to bid for Radoslav and send agents to Varna to negotiate with him. As Radoslav is already in Sofia, the negotiators encounter Radosvet. Of course, our gambler decides to take the best out of the situation and, pretending to be Radoslav, signs a contract with the club from Sofia.

Now both brothers are in Sofia. Radoslav keeps on searching for his Elena without the slightest suspicion of his brother’s intrigues. But Radosvet is the one hitting the jackpot, meeting Elena. However, his behavior is unbearably impudent; she slaps his face and does not want to see him anymore. Clearly, she does not suspect that this is not Radoslav. A few moments later, when by the will of fortune, she finally meets the true Radoslav, all her anger is transferred over him. He manages to clarify the situation and they both go to see the first game of Radosvet, who plays with number 13. Of course, the team of Radosvet is defeated, after a myriad of comic situations. It becomes clear to everyone that both brothers have switched places. Radoslav gets the offer to go to play in Sofia, but he declines it and with Elena leaves for Varna.

The film opens when we see Berit, a young woman living in a working-class port town, tries to drown herself by jumping into the sea. Among the witnesses of this incident is Gösta, a sailor newly returned from overseas and intent upon staying on land. By chance they begin a relationship. We then realized that Berit's checkered past and the existence of her abusive and cruel mother. The plot and character development centre on the relationship between Berit and Gösta, as she discloses her troubled past of family problems and various affairs to him and he must deal with his own feelings and conflicts about such disclosure. The film ends at a high note with Berit and Gösta decide to stay together and fight for their future.

Former Las Vegas Police Chief of Detectives Duke Rittle is killed at a party and his daughter and wife are kidnapped. Later, a body is discovered inside a car trunk with Rittle's hat on it. While the team investigates both cases, police from Miami report sighting a little girl who fit the daughter's physical description. Catherine and Warrick travel to Miami to assist in the investigation as the trail leads there. On arrival, they meet their ''CSI: Miami'' counterparts.

Catherine wants to take over the scene, and Horatio Caine politely lets her. Horatio finds the girl in a secluded plantation and the team discover some bullets, tire tracks and urine left behind by the kidnapper. Calleigh Duquesne identifies the bullets. One difference is noted between the teams: the Miami ones use theories, while the Vegas ones follow the evidence. Grissom and the rest of the team stay behind in Las Vegas to continue the investigation from there. At the site, Horatio deduces that the kidnapper stopped to urinate and the girl escaped. Tim Speedle tells Horatio about the feds wanting a word. The feds say that the man is a serial kidnapper and has done this before, all of his victims having come from the same hotel.

While Horatio is talking with several FBI agents, he gets a tip-off and sends Eric Delko into a swampy river to look for any possible evidence, while Horatio covers him for alligators. A car is found and it is towed on to riverbank only for the team to discover Mrs. Rittle's dead body, naked other than duct tape wrapped over her mouth, breasts, and genital area. Alexx Woods later discovers her to have been covered in honey and raped. Horatio and Catherine then go a club called "Hive", where girls are wrapped in plastic and covered with honey. Horatio takes a sample and later hints he had been there before, on opening night as a VIP. They discover the honey on the wife is a match to the sample from Hive.

Back in Las Vegas, Grissom and Robbins are flipping through medical textbooks. The man's girlfriend had previously told Grissom and Nick that the man, Adam Van Der Welk, had a "sickly sweet" smell. Robbins realizes that the killer has diabetic ketoacidosis, hence the body odor. Later, Eric finds more evidence from the bacteria in the swamp that ties Mrs. Rittle's killer to the same person who killed her husband and abducted her daughter. An expensive honey was used. They look at orders and find a limo driver, Gordon Daimler, who was also the Rittles' chauffeur. Turning on the AC, Horatio finds the smell again. However, the girlfriend says he does not drink smelly alcohol. The treatment for diabetic ketoacidosis is insulin, and they look at buyers. They find that Daimler bought some and used it right before they found him so that he did not smell.

All his victims were his clients. They head to his latest client's place and find it bloodied and empty, the boat missing. They find the Corwins' boat, where they see two heat signatures, one of which the FBI believes to be Daimler. Horatio knows this is a trick by Daimler and threatens to hound the FBI sniper if he takes the shot. Horatio boards the boat, but Mrs. Corwin has died. Horatio knows Daimler is on the Corwins' jet and arrests him there. Mr. Corwin survives and thus is able to testify against Daimler. Horatio later talks to the young girl and tells her that he's lost someone, too; he also informs her that her aunt has flown to Miami. Horatio thanks Catherine for the help, and she tells him the same as the Vegas team departs for home.

The two main characters are the lingering spirits of the sisters and , who in the 9th Century lived on the Bay of Suma in Settsu Province, where they ladled brine in order to make salt. A courtier, Middle Counsellor Ariwara no Yukihira, dallied with them during his exile to Suma for three years. Shortly after his departure, word of his death came and they died of grief. They linger on as spirits or ghosts, attached to the mortal world by their emotional attachment to mortal desires: this is a common theme in Noh.

The play opens with a traveling priest asking a local about a memorial he sees. The local explains that the memorial is to the two sisters. This is followed by a scene in which the sisters, ladling seawater into their brinecart at night, become fascinated by the sight of the moon in the water, and try to capture it.

The priest dreams that he meets them when asking for lodgings. After revealing their identities, they explain their past, and grow overcome with their love and longing for Yukihira. Matsukaze, after donning the courtly hunting robe and hat left to her by the courtier, mistakes a pine for her love, and Murasame joins her briefly in madness, before recovering, passing on from the mortal world of emotional attachment, and leaving her sister behind.

In 1978 adventure novelist Clive Cussler funded and participated in an attempt to find John Paul Jones's famous Revolutionary warship, the ''USS Bonhomme Richard''. The expedition was not successful; however, it eventually led to the formation of a nonprofit organization named after the fictional agency in his novels, the National Underwater and Marine Agency, and dedicated to the discovery of famous shipwrecks around the world. In ''The Sea Hunters'', Cussler documents the search for nine famous shipwrecks while also offering dramatized imaginings on the events that led up to the loss of the ship. To date, the group's most successful find is the (disputed) discovery of the final resting place of the Confederate submarine ''Hunley'', detailed in Part 6. The ''Hunley'' was later raised and is now on public display.

Witek (Bogusław Linda), sitting on an airplane, for some reason screams "No!" A bleeding person is dragged across a hospital floor. As a child, Witek learns how to write. As an adolescent, Witek dates Czuszka. As an adult, Witek goes to medical school and dates Olga (Monika Gozdzik). Witek 'loses' his calling after the death of his father. Witek decides to catch a train to Warsaw. There he crashes into a fellow drinking beer. Three different outcomes are shown, each depending on how Witek deals with the obstacles on his way to catching the train and whether or not he catches the train.

In the first scenario, Witek almost crashes into the fellow drinking the beer. He runs after the train at the Łódź Fabryczna railway station and is able to grab onto the last car's handlebar just in time to pull himself aboard. On the train he meets Werner (Tadeusz Łomnicki), an old Communist. Witek decides to join the Communist Party. On a walk with Werner, Witek meets up with Czuszka (Bogusława Pawelec), his first love. The two meet up and have sex, after which a disappointed Czuszka discovers that Witek is applying to join the party. Witek unsuccessfully tries to solve a problem with an airline mechanic. Witek breaks up a sit-in at a hospital. As a reward, a party leader plans to send Witek on a special mission to France. On a walk with Czuszka, a policeman asks them for their papers. Since Witek is a Communist, he is allowed to go on his way, while Czuszka is detained. He attempts to make up with Czuszka, who is speaking at an opposition meeting, but she rejects him. At the airport, Witek is informed that his mission to France has been cancelled.

In the second scenario, Witek slams into the fellow drinking the beer with such force that the mug slips from the drinker's hand and falls to the floor, breaking and spilling. Witek doesn't stop to apologize but still fails to catch the train. Instead he runs headlong into a railway guard on the platform, knocks him to the ground, and runs off. The guard calls for backup and Witek is arrested. A judge sentences Witek to thirty days and unpaid community service. Witek joins the anti-Communist resistance and meets up with Daniel, a friend from his childhood, and his sister Wera. He is baptised and the figure of Christ on the cross becomes a significant emblem for him. Witek applies for a passport to go to France, but his request is denied because he is known to be an anti-Communist. The authorities offer him a passport on the condition that he discloses the underground's contacts in France. Witek goes home and begins foreplay with Wera, but is called away to the resistance's lair. The place has been ransacked and the one person left there doubts Witek's loyalty.

, the turning point in the main character's life, as it appeared in 2011

In the third scenario, Witek almost crashes into the fellow drinking the beer but stops in time and goes around him, apologizing. He still tries to catch the train but fails. The railway guard shows up a few seconds later but now Witek has stopped to catch his breath. He notices Olga on the platform (it's not clear if she was there in the previous two scenarios). Witek and Olga go back to his apartment where they make love on the floor. Witek decides to resume his medical studies and soon he graduates and starts practicing at the hospital as well as teaching at the medical school. Olga tells him she is three months pregnant. The two get married. Witek refuses to join the Communist Party. At the medical school, some students pass around a petition on behalf of the dean's son, who is accused of hawking illegal literature. Witek refuses to sign the petition, noting that the dean himself hasn't signed either. Witek doesn't want to get involved in politics at all. The dean offers him a trip to Libya to give some lectures on medical topics he has prepared. Witek accepts. On the train to catch the plane, Olga tells Witek she's pregnant with their second child, hoping it is a girl. At the airport, Witek sees some of the people who were more important in the previous two scenarios. The plane taxis on the runway, Witek is comfortable in his seat. The plane takes off, but a few seconds later explodes.

The covert world of government Ghost Squad agent Daniel Leight (Jason Connery) comes crashing down when he gets critically injured in a building collapse triggered by the genetically mutated terrorist called Python (Daniel Goddard). But when Leight's radiation treatments are later sabotaged by Python, Leight discovers that he has the ability to move at hyper speeds, though only by risking potentially fatal metabolic damage.

Tom Cutler is a single father and a retired police officer who now runs his own crime scene cleaning service. Eight years earlier Tom’s wife had been murdered when she tried to stop a home invasion and robbery, leaving their then-six-year-old daughter Rose to witness her death.

One day Tom’s company receives a work order to clean the scene of a wealthy home. When he arrives his notes indicate a key is hidden under a clay pot on the front porch. He lets himself in, catalogues the crime scene and proceeds to clean up the blood and tissue using his own special mixture of chemicals.

The next morning he finds the house key in his coat pocket and realizes he forgot to place it back under the pot. He goes back to the home, but the home owner, Ann Norcut, seems to have no idea that Tom had been there the previous day, let alone know any reason why his services would be needed. Tom claims he mixed up addresses. Nevertheless, the two separately grow suspicious of the situation.

Returning to his office, Tom inquires with his assistant about the work order for the Norcut’s home. He learns that the police never placed such a work order, nor is there a detective named Jones, who had apparently placed the order. Tom then stashes the order, the crime scene photos, his audio notes, and the house key in an envelope then locks them away. He seeks out his friend and former partner Eddie Lorenzo, where he begins to learn that Ann’s husband John is apparently missing. Eddie is suspicious of foul play, given that John’s disappearance came the day before he was set to testify to a grand jury against corrupt former police commissioner Robert Vaughn.

The next day, Tom finds Ann waiting for him at his office where she inquires about his visit the previous day. Saying he never answered what sort of cleaning services he provides, she deduces it’s specifically crime scene clean up, and asks whether her husband was killed. Tom declines to give a clear answer.

Eddie later finds Tom cleaning a scene in a hotel room, and tells him that while the forensic team found no traces of DNA evidence at the scene, they did find professional cleaning chemicals. Tom reveals the situation he’s in to Eddie, saying that he hasn't contacted the police because he's not sure how far and wide Vaughn's corruption goes. Later, Tom meets with Ann who shows him a ledger John was keeping that listed the badge number of every corrupt officer on Vaughn’s payroll—including, unbeknownst to her, Tom’s. Years earlier, Tom had agreed to do a job for Vaughn, believing it would keep Rose safe.

Tom tells Eddie about the ledger and Eddie suggests that Tom destroy it because it suggests motive for Tom to murder John, and given that Tom can already be placed at the scene, the revelation of a motive may be enough to convict him.

Tom returns to Ann who is experiencing PTSD knowing that her living room is the scene of her husband’s murder. She asks to be taken somewhere, and so Tom takes her to his employee Miguel’s home, where they have dinner with him and his family.

Tom learns that Ann has been asked to visit the morgue by Detective Jim Vargas who has been investigating John’s murder. He slips her into the morgue before Vargas arrives, where she’s able to identify John’s remains. In private, the coroner tells Tom that the victim had a vasectomy several years prior, indicating that Ann’s aforementioned pregnancy couldn’t have been his.

Tom deduces that Ann was having an affair, and that the key left for him on the porch belonged to her boyfriend. Seeking out Eddie’s help again, he explains what he’s learned; before leaving Eddie’s, he notices a plaque over the fireplace thanking him for his service in after school programs and Ann’s name is inscribed at the bottom. Tom realizes Eddie is Ann’s lover, and that the child was his.

Eddie, believing that John had forced Ann to have an abortion, had murdered John and then brought in Tom to clean up the scene, knowing that he would be destroying all the evidence. Tom decides to hand Eddie over to Vargas, but Eddie instead goes to Tom's home with Rose. Tom hurries home and confronts Eddie, who admits he killed John believing that Ann was lying about the miscarriage and that John made her terminate the pregnancy. Holding Tom at gunpoint he angrily pleads for support, but when he sees patrol vehicles arrive on the scene, he aims to shoot Tom. Instead, Rose shoots Eddie in the head and kills him, having run and retrieved Tom’s sidearm.

Vargas takes the ledger from Tom, thanks him, and tells him he'll burn the book, and they'll all sleep better. Vargas states he'll clean up the mess, letting Tom go. Miguel cleans up the crime scene.

Nikki Finn is a carefree young woman who usually wears a leather jacket and skirt, sports fire-red lips and a platinum bob, and speaks in a high-pitched voice; she is also resourceful and intelligent. One day her boyfriend Johnny sees two men stealing money out of a trust fund and takes a picture of this theft. He puts the pictures in a safe deposit box and gives Nikki the key for safekeeping. The thieves catch and murder Johnny and frame Nikki by dumping his body into the trunk of her car, and she is sentenced to seven years in prison.

Four years later, tax attorney Loudon Trott is marrying the daughter of one of the richest men in New York, Simon Worthington. Loudon's bride Wendy Worthington is a selfish woman who is more consumed in her wedding plans than in her fiancé's well-being. Loudon, on the other hand, has many duties entrusted to him by his boss—and future father-in-law—Mr. Worthington: First he must pick up a cougar for exotic-animal activist Montgomery Bell, then he must pick up Nikki (who has been put on parole) and lastly he must make sure she catches the next bus to her hometown, Philadelphia.

Meanwhile, Nikki is determined to catch the actual thieves and expose the truth. After meeting Loudon, Nikki cons him into taking her shopping. After they take a Rolls-Royce into Harlem to buy a gun—and are nearly arrested during a police raid—she tells Loudon her story; believing she is innocent, he decides to help her. She is also on the run from a pimp named Raoul and his lackey Benny, the ones who killed Johnny. Only after dangling off a Cadillac limousine smashed through the top floor of a parking garage does he tell her the bank and the box number (6111) of her slain boyfriend.

Afterward Nikki vanishes with the cougar, whom she names Murray. Later that night, Loudon visits Mr. Bell to apologize for losing the animal, then finds that Nikki had delivered Murray and was waiting for Loudon at Mr. Bell's penthouse apartment; he has created a Brazilian rainforest filled with animals on top of his roof. There Nikki and Loudon—who have become close—express love for each other; Murray also finds a mate. Loudon delivers Nikki to the bus station the next morning, but Nikki brokenheartedly realizes that she must return to Philadelphia, leaving Loudon, who is about to get married. On the bus she opens an envelope in the security box and finds the photographs that prove that Mr. Worthington is an embezzler and he was the mastermind behind the theft. Nikki gate-crashes the wedding, gets Mr. Worthington arrested, and proclaims her love for Loudon. Nikki and Loudon ride off into the sunset on a bus to Philadelphia, with Murray and his partner chasing after them.

Matthew Davis stars as Carter, introduced as a thirtysomething professor at a mediocre college. Through flashbacks, we learn about Carter's time as a promising writer enrolled in an exclusive grad school class taught by Sanford Pollard (Rutger Hauer), a hard-drinking, hard-driving, brilliant but abrasive writer whose career has stalled since winning a Pulitzer Prize decades ago. Julia (Dagmara Dominczyk) is Sanford's graduate assistant as well as his lover. Sanford and Julia "adopt" the young, eager Carter and expose him to the world of wealth, television, and drugs. Carter travels with them to Sanford's beach house, where he and Julia eventually become lovers.

In the present, Carter has become a shadow of his former promise, a lethargic teacher, an alcoholic, excessive smoker, lacking the ability to sustain relationships. Like Sanford, he has worked his way through a series of graduate assistant girlfriends, and we watch as he apparently allows his relationship with Susan (Lynn Chen) to wither away. Carter is on a reckless path until he receives notice that Sanford has died of cancer.

The film jumps back and forth from the present to ten years earlier, as Carter wrestles with the unresolved emotions he felt with Sanford and Julia. After attending Sanford's funeral, Carter returns to the beach house, where Sanford's will is being read. There he again meets Julia, older but still appealing, and they discover that Sanford has left the two of them his entire estate. The film ends ambiguously, with Carter and Julia driving off into the night in the Porsche that had been Sanford's, but which is now theirs in "joint custody".

The story is about the Gruffalo's daughter who, despite her father's warning, sets off into the deep dark wood to find the "big bad mouse", the only thing her father is afraid of. The Gruffalo can not remember what he looks like and describes him as a monster.

During her winter journey, she encounters the tracks of the snake, the owl, and the fox from ''the previous story'', each of whom she first suspects to be the "big bad mouse", but who in turn tell her where she can find the real "big bad mouse". Eventually, concluding she has been tricked by the animals (and perhaps her father), she sadly decides that she "doesn't believe in the 'big bad mouse".

At this point, she encounters the little mouse from ''The Gruffalo'', who previously tricked her father and who her father and the animals were talking about. When she threatens to eat him, he cunningly invites her to meet the "big bad mouse", which he re-creates by using moonlight to project a tremendously enlarged and fearsome shadow to scare her away. Believing the shadow to belong to the real "big bad mouse", the Gruffalo's child flees and returns to the Gruffalo cave with faith in her father restored.

The story repeats the "brains over brawn" theme, the creatures, and the easily flowing rhyme scheme (tetrameter) of its predecessor, ''The Gruffalo''.

Tadeusz (Jan Kreczmar) is a Polish veteran of World War II who fled to London at the end of the war, leaving behind his wife Zofia (Irena Eichlerówna) and two sons, Maciek (Zbigniew Cybulski) and Jedrek, who disappeared when he was 17 years old.

Tadeusz returns to Kraków to discover if Jedrek may be alive. His wife and son Maciek were members of resistance – was it possible that the second son may have been the traitor?

During Maciek's struggle to explain to his father their history during German occupation, questions arise concerning collaboration with the Gestapo and retribution by the Home Army. Has pictures the mystical lost boy in a dark fairy-tale forest, full of the war's ghosts and wholesale executions. The hypnotic quality of these excursions foreshadows the mesmerizing passages of Has' later film, ''The Hour-Glass Sanatorium''.

College student James (Andrews) arrives from New Orleans at a desert ranch owned by his father, Hezekiah (Sandeen) to help out. Soon after arriving, James is hit on by Hezekiah's wife, Cheryl (Carey), and starts having nightmares. James and Cheryl are caught by Hezekiah having sex, Cheryl and Hezekiah have a fight, then she leaves the ranch that night.

Hezekiah drives into town and picks up another woman, Alisha (Sally Jean), who also quickly falls for James then disappears. Cheryl staggers into Hezekiah's "studio" (an art workshop where he makes female body sculptures out of meat), and dies in front of James. He takes her into the house, where he finds his father crying over Alisha's dead body.

James calls a care facility because he thinks his dad has gone crazy. They send out a nurse, Patty (Clarke), who handcuffs Hezekiah to his bed so that the next time somebody is killed, he can be eliminated as a suspect. In the few days of waiting for the next victim to show up, Patty and James decide to while away the time by having sex.

James reveals to Patty that he went to a witch doctor (Johnson) back in New Orleans to help him with attracting females but was misled; his penis can now detach itself from his body and kill people.

A side story involves a sexually confused local mechanic (Yudis, the film's producer and director) and his probably intentional delay in fixing James's car, in order to seduce him.

The film opens with a home video of the slaughter with a captive bolt pistol of a pig on a European farm. The video rewinds to play the slaughter in slow motion, which emphasizes the hand-held barrel against the pig's fore-skull and the cartridge explosion. A party centered on a game called Pilot and Passengers is broken up by Georg and Anna when they return home in the middle of the party. Eva, their daughter who lives separately from them, is the host of the party, and it is revealed through the questioning of Georg and Anna's son, Benny, that Eva has taken advantage of her parents' planned absence to host the impromptu party in their house.

While his parents are away for the weekend, Benny invites a girl (Ingrid Stassner) he has seen outside the local video store to his home. He shows her the video of the pig slaughter, and they talk about the film. She asks him if he made the film himself, then asks how it was seeing the pig die, and if he has ever seen a real dead person. Benny replies that he has not, and that the corpses in movies are all fake. He then unveils and loads the slaughtering gun. He holds it against his chest, and dares the girl to discharge it. When she refuses, he calls her a coward. He holds it against her chest, and when he hesitates, she calls him a coward also. He fires the gun, and she falls. Her falling reveals a video monitor, on which we see her crawling away from Benny and completely out of frame. We then see Benny running to reload the gun and returning to shoot her a second time, the girl crawling back partially into frame, and finally Benny reloading and firing a third time, this time killing her.

After choir practice, Benny returns home. There, as the weekend begins, Benny covers the girl's body and goes through her school bag, arranges an evening out with friends, then moves the girl's body to a closet and cleans up the blood. Some of the cleanup is seen through a video monitor while Benny edits a video of the experience. Benny goes out to a dance club and stays overnight at his friend's house. On his way home, he goes to a cinema, window shops, and gets his hair shorn to the scalp.

After his parents return, his father harangues Benny about his haircut, asking if Benny had any thought about how others would react to him now. Later on, while the family is watching the news in Benny's room, Benny switches the signal to the video he has made of himself killing the girl. Benny reveals the body in his closet, and Georg removes the videotape. He asks if anyone else knows about this, and through careful grilling finds that there are no witnesses.

Clearly disturbed, the father and mother leave Benny's room. In the living room, Georg dispassionately lists the options they have: either to alert the authorities, with a resulting judgment of parental neglect and placement of their son in a psychiatric institution, or to destroy the evidence. Anna urges that any option chosen must be carefully followed to its end.

Anna takes Benny on vacation to Egypt, and the ever-present video camera captures them both in their hotel, in the village, touring ancient tombs, watching sail-gliders at the beach, and even a private moment of Anna in the bathroom. There are several phone calls from a booth in the post office, with Benny and Anna separately taking the phone. Benny seems barely affected by the murder he committed, and he seems unable to fathom why his mother breaks down in sobs at one point during the vacation. When they return home after six days, the apartment is clean of any trace of the girl. Georg, who had stayed at home, succeeded in cutting the body into small enough pieces to be flushed down the toilet or otherwise removed. That evening, Georg asks Benny why he killed her, and Benny replies, "I don't know. ...I wanted to see what it's like, possibly." Benny shrugs in answer to Georg asking how it was.

On video, we see another Pilot and Passengers party hosted by Eva, this time with Georg and Anna's permission. In reality, we see Anna and Georg watching the video with Benny and discussing how well their daughter does playing the game. Later, Georg and Anna attend the concert of the choir Benny is in. Again in reality, a voice-over asks, "Why did you come to us now?" We see Benny being interviewed by policemen, and he answers merely, "Because." With no following questions, Benny asks if he can leave now. Afterwards, Benny meets Georg and Anna in the hall and, after a long moment, says, .

In this volume, Mia struggles to decide how to break up with her boyfriend Kenny. In ''The Princess Diaries, Volume II: Princess in the Spotlight'' Kenny, Mia's biology partner at school, sent anonymous love letters to Mia expressing his feelings for her, resulting in Mia and Kenny dating. Mia does not love Kenny, but cannot bring herself to break up with him. Mia likes Michael, her friend Lilly's older brother, and feels she is leading Kenny on.

Mia also struggles to support Lilly, who organises a school-wide walkout of class as a protest against authority after her English teacher shoots down her paper proposal for her English final, titled "How to Survive High School." Not wanting to upset Mr Gianni, Mia pulls the fire alarm at the time the walkout is scheduled to happen, though nobody finds out it was her. After Grandmere and Sebastino, Mia's dress designer, publish a set of photos of Mia modelling different gowns without her or her parents' consent, Mia organises a press conference donating all the proceeds from the sales of the dresses she modelled to Greenpeace.

Mia begins to send Michael anonymous love letters, similar to that of Kenny's. Unknown to her, Mia's friend Tina, whom Mia confided in about the letters, has told Lilly about said letters. Lilly eventually tells Michael that it was Mia sending the letters. At the school Winter Carnival, Michael shows her a message on his computer revealing he knows she sent the love letters, and he returns her feelings.

Mia, not knowing how to respond and thinking Michael may be playing a joke on her, runs from her chair. Mia runs into Kenny, who mistakenly believes Mia is in love with Boris, and they break up. Mia returns home, is devastated and does not want to go to the dance following the carnival, and decides to move to Genovia. Mia's grandmother convinces her to go to the dance, where Mia sees Michael, and they share their first kiss together.

Category:2002 American novels Category:American young adult novels

Category:The Princess Diaries novels Category:HarperCollins books

Stormblade chronicles Stanach the dwarf's quest to retrieve the powerful Stormblade. Stormblade is a kingsword, a blade which is intended to break the deadlock among the council of thanes, and bring a new king to Thorbardin. Unfortunately, the blade is stolen, but when it turns up, only one dwarf is brave enough to go after it.

Stanach was an orphan. He grew up like any other dwarf, but was lucky enough to be taught the basics of smithing. Without the blade, his teacher becomes depressed, and eventually mad. Stanach sets out to find the blade for both his teacher and just to restore it.

Firstly, he meets Lavim, a stereotypical kender. Together they travel, eventually being joined by the human Kelida and the elf ranger Tyorl. After many wrong turns, fights and misfortunes, they eventually make it back to Thorbardin, where the Theiwar thane is attempting to murder Hornfel, the Hylar thane to gain power over the thanes so he can rule.

After a long fight, the Theiwar thane is killed and Stormblade is restored to its rightful place. Tyorl is mortally wounded in the fight, and dies. As a mark of honor, they allow him to be buried in the garden of thanes (a great honor for dwarves, even more for an elf).

The film is set in a small industrial town in Värmland, where a young man returns to his hometown from Stockholm to investigate the sudden disappearance of his sister. He initially has little success with his inquiries, performed through the rekindling of brief acquaintances with the odd characters of his youth, and he eventually forms a picture of what has happened.

In the story, salesman Bill Hogan notices an odd pair of walking "Chattery Teeth" (odd due to their unusually large size and the fact that they are made of metal) in a convenience store display. The clerk ends up giving Hogan the teeth, claiming they had been dropped and no longer work. Hogan is unable to dismiss another oddity- his sense that the teeth are somehow sentient and want to kill him.

As he leaves the convenience store, Hogan reluctantly (having been robbed by a hitchhiker once before) gives a ride to a hitchhiker outside the convenience store; his fears prove prophetic when the young man tries to carjack him and then kill him. During the struggle, Hogan wrecks the van, and before the hitchhiker can recover and kill him, the teeth come to life and gruesomely dispatch the criminal. Hogan passes out to the vision of the Chattery Teeth dragging the hitchhiker's body off into the desert.

Nine months later, Hogan stops again at the same convenience store, where he is unexpectedly reunited with the "broken" teeth again. The store owner's wife recounts how a disheleved young man- Hogan's would-be carjacker and murderer- was found dead out in the desert, presumably killed by wild animals. Hogan realizes the teeth likely never intended to kill him, but instead want to protect him. Mrs. Scooter gives him the teeth again. His theory is proved correct when a dog snarls at him as he leaves and the teeth stir in his pocket, ready to attack anything that means him harm. Hogan resolves to keep the teeth permanently, and to eventually pass them on to his son.

When a young man, Angus, visits his dying grandfather in hospital he cannot hold back his boyhood quest for the truth - the truth behind the death of his parents and the truth behind his grandfather's ancient, incredible, fearful stories. Stories from the whole swathe of Gàidhealtachd history of poisoned lovers, bloody revenge, water-horses and Spanish gold. His grandfather hijacks Angus' life, for one last time leading him to one of Scotland's most treacherous mountains, the Inaccessible Pinnacle on the Isle of Skye, and an ancient truth he never expected to find.

Griff Marat (Cornel Wilde), is a parole officer who falls in love with a parolee, Jenny Marsh (Patricia Knight). Marsh had gone to prison in order to protect Harry Wesson (John Baragrey) a gambler with whom she was having an affair.

Warned to steer clear of Harry permanently, Jenny disobeys, still feeling loyal to him. A raid on Harry's bookie joint while Jenny is there costs her the job Griff has found for her. Out of concern for her welfare, Griff hires Jenny as a caretaker for his blind mother (Esther Minciotti).

Griff has political ambitions that Harry would like to ruin, so, knowing it is against regulations for the parolee and parole officer to be involved, Harry encourages Jenny to accept Griff's romantic advances. Jenny knows the regulations too, but realizes she loves Griff and they get married; she makes one more trip to speak to Harry, to tell him that she truly loves Griff. During their conversation, Harry threatens to reveal letters she had written him, in which she expressed her love. Jenny points Harry's own gun at him and, after a brief struggle, he ends up shot and seriously wounded. Griff and Jenny attempt to flee to Mexico. This fails but, willing to do anything to keep his wife from going back to jail, Griff takes a job in an oil refinery. Their photographs regularly appear in newspapers, but the last straw for Jenny is when a paper which includes their pictures is delivered to every neighbor in their refinery community. The couple decide to go back and turn themselves in. When the police take them to Harry in the hospital, he clears Jenny's name by swearing that the shooting was an accident.

The story takes place 50 years after the original and features a new cast of characters—primarily the new main character Kenji Kusanagi, a high school student and motorcycle racer who becomes Koutetsushin Jeeg to fight the sudden reappearance of "Haniwa Genjin" ("Haniwa Phantom Gods", or clay robots) from the Great Jama Kingdom ruled by Queen Himika. Other characters include Tsubaki Tamashiro (granddaughter of Miwa Uzuki) and Kyo Misumi, Kenji's partners. Other main characters from the original series also appear.

World Air Force test pilot Major Gravener is being driven to Slaton Airbase by car when Captain Black (voiced by Donald Gray), driving a truck from the opposite direction, deploys a beam with false headlamps into the road to dazzle Gravener's chauffeur, Harris. To avoid a collision, Harris swerves the car into a lake and both men drown. The clinically-dead Gravener is discovered by two passing doctors and taken to Slaton Hospital, where he is revived with the aid of a stasis and recovery unit.Bentley 2001, p. 82.

The next day, a Mysteron reconstruction of Gravener travels to Slaton Airbase and commandeers an XK-107 bomber armed with a nuclear warhead. When word arrives of Gravener's accident, the base personnel realise that the pilot is an impostor and block the runway just as he is taking off. The XK-107 crashes and explodes, killing the reconstructed Gravener. Spectrum connects the attempted theft of the XK-107 to a Mysteron threat to destroy the world capital, Futura City.

Briefed by Captains Scarlet and Blue (voiced by Francis Matthews and Ed Bishop), the original Gravener takes off in a second XK-107 in an attempt to trick the Mysterons into thinking that he is their reconstruction. As hoped, Captain Black telepathically contacts the aircraft: he instructs Gravener to land at the disused Weston Airstrip, 30 miles outside Futura City. Scarlet deduces that the purpose of this rendezvous is to transfer the warhead to a ground vehicle, after which Gravener will depart in the XK-107 and fly it as a decoy while the warhead is driven into Futura City and detonated. Black's truck is shown to be standing by at the airstrip.

As Gravener comes in to land, Spectrum ground forces, led by Scarlet and Blue in a Spectrum Patrol Car, converge on the airstrip to capture Black. The truck attempts to escape but in veering out of Gravener's path ends up crashing into a bunker. However, Scarlet, Blue and Gravener are shocked to find that the vehicle's dead driver is not Black, but a Mysteron reconstruction of Harris. Blue concludes that although the Mysterons were unable to distinguish the two Graveners, Black possesses a "sixth sense" that warns him of danger and has enabled him to evade Spectrum once again.

At the end of the previous episode, Postgame Mortem, Veronica is arrested by Sheriff Lamb (Michael Muhney) on the suspicion that she helped the now-missing Josh Barry to escape from prison. This episode opens with Lamb questioning her and learning little, as she had nothing to do with his disappearance.

Keith, Veronica's father and owner of Mars Investigations, their detective firm, visits Veronica in jail. Cliff McCormack (Daran Norris), a local public defender, also arrives, and tells Veronica that she has been all but cleared, but Sheriff Lamb will keep her in custody for as long as he can because he still believes she was involved in Josh's disappearance. Keith returns to Mars Investigations, where Hank Landry arrives and says that he found a bugging device in his phone. Landry had been implicated in the ongoing investigation into the death of Cyrus O’Dell, dean of Hearst College where Veronica is a student. Keith denies that he or Veronica placed the device in his phone, but Hank becomes angry, telling him to stop investigating him.

Keith brings his findings on the death of Cyrus to Sheriff Lamb and provides an alternate explanation; that the Dean had discovered his wife was having an affair. Lamb agrees with him that it was a murder. Lamb calls Mindy O'Dell, the dean's wife and a main suspect, to his office. Logan, Veronica's on-again, off-again boyfriend, visits Veronica in her cell and they are civil to each other. After being released from jail, Veronica is stopped on the street by Josh, who has Mason (Robert Ri'chard) in the trunk of his car, frantically telling Veronica that Mason is the culprit. When Veronica disproves this claim, she tells Josh to call her using a disposable phone within 24 hours. Veronica releases Mason from the trunk.

Logan takes a wireless card to Mac as a favor, and she, Parker, and Bronson invite him on a night out. Logan, Mac, Bronson, and Parker take part in a Valentine's Day scavenger hunt. The quartet find their last clue at a beach. Mac and Bronson kiss, while Parker and Logan bond while swimming. The scavenger hunt ends, and they come in third place. Logan and Parker leave, and Mac and Bronson have sex for the first time.

While reviewing the O'Dell case, Veronica notices that the TV station the dean was watching the night he was murdered had moved its programming back an hour, meaning their estimated time of death was wrong. The forensic results about the prints in O'Dell’s room come back, and they are the fingerprints of Steve Botando (Richard Grieco). Steve Botando is investigated by Sheriff Lamb.

Keith investigates the Coach Barry case more, finding that the Coach had Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease. His wife took out a life insurance policy several days before his death with a double indemnity clause. Keith talks to Coach Barry's wife, who pulls out a gun on him. It is a Colt .45, the gun that was used to kill Coach Barry. However, she claims that she was not intending to shoot Keith and that it is a relic of the Coach's army days. Sheriff Lamb receives a call about a robbery at the O'Dell house. It is Steve Botando, who bludgeons Lamb until he is mortally wounded.

Veronica gives Josh a new ID, and he successfully unlocks his safe-deposit box at a bank. Inside is a DVD of Coach Barry telling Josh about his condition and that he was planning to have a friend kill him to avoid futile medical expenses and give his family the insurance money. Josh flees the country until he is old enough to receive the money his father left aside. Veronica shows Keith the DVD. Keith calls the Sheriff's office and finds that Sheriff Lamb has just died from his wounds. Veronica sees Logan and Parker talking.

Keith, now acting Sheriff, questions Mindy with new evidence, claiming that Mindy is protecting Hank or Hank is protecting Mindy. The story continues in the next episode, Papa's Cabin.

Barney's friends are playing in Derek's backyard building a sand castle, after which Barney appears and takes them to a magical forest. They meet an elf named Twinkle, who likes to play games and make new friends. She shows them the road to the castle where they ride pretend horses and meet a real king. After taking care of the castle while the king goes fishing, the kids are made princes and princesses of the kingdom.

During the early years of the 1970s, Ricardo Guglielmini is the mayor of Colonia Vela, a small country village in an undisclosed province of central Argentina. He plots with Héctor Suprino, a local Peronist spin doctor, and Reinaldo, a union leader, to get the town's deputy mayor, Ignacio Fuentes, kicked out of office, due to his increasing popularity, which threatens Guglilemini's decades-long hold on the mayorship.

Fuentes is told that he has to fire his assistant Mateo because of his Marxist sympathies. Fuentes, despite disagreeing with Marxist ideals himself, declines, refusing to be politically strong-armed. Taking advantage of this, Guglilemini publicly accuses Fuentes of aiding communist guerillas as an excuse to fire him or get him to resign. When Fuentes refuses, Gugliemini sends the police to arrest him, but Fuentes, rather than cave in to the pressure, takes to arms and then barricades himself in the town hall, along with his allies and friends; Mateo, Corporal García, Juan, Rodrigo, Moyito and Crazy Ceres. Guglielmini orders the police to storm the building, which leads to a massive stand-off between the local police force and Fuentes' men. The counter-Fuentes operation, led by Chief Llanos and Sub-Chief Rossi, initially only attempts to threaten Fuentes into surrendering, but soon evolves into a real shootout when members of the Argentine Anticommunist Alliance, led by Rogelio Almeido, show up and intervene. During the shootout with the AAA, Moyito is killed and several police officers are wounded, which leads to a temporary ceasefire and a deadlock. Juan sneaks out through the back to look for the local crop duster pilot, Cerviño, in order to convince him to help Fuentes by conducting an aerial attack as a distraction so he can sneak more ammo and explosives into the building.

As night falls, a group of delusional local leftist guerrilla youths, led by Matilda Gómez, gather in an abandoned warehouse and make a completely unrealistic and blatantly flawed plan to use the conflict as a means to start a civil war in Argentina, take over the government and convert the country into a communist state. They start out by kidnapping Chief Llanos and holding him for a ransom of several tons of explosives and weaponry. Not wanting to give more resources to the communists, Guglielmini abandons Llanos and declares Rossi the new police chief. Rossi leads a new attack on Fuentes, this time using bulldozers as cover to advance on the town hall. Rodrigo and Crazy Ceres are killed during this attack and Fuentes, García and Mateo are barely saved because Cerviño arrives in the nick of time and sprays pesticides all over the police with his plane, causing them to temporarily disperse.

The guerrillas attack the local union with a pipe bomb, killing Reinaldo, which prompts the AAA agents to abandon the fight against Fuentes and instead attempt to kill the guerrilla troopers. Famed local Radical former senator Prudencio Gúzman attempts to negotiate with the communists for Llanos' release, but the peace talks fall through and Llanos is ultimately executed.

The police regroup and prepare for a third attack. In order to buy some time and distract Rossi, Mateo turns himself in while Fuentes, García and Juan prepare a bomb with the explosives the latter had previously brought in. Regardless of Mateo's surrender, the raid proceeds and, when the police storms the town hall, the bomb goes off, killing several police officers and giving Fuentes, García and Juan enough time to escape through the back. In retaliation, Almeido kills Mateo. Despite managing to escape the town hall, the trio are soon found by the police and Fuentes and García are taken captive. Juan, however, manages to escape. Desperate, he contacts the guerrillas, who promise to help free Fuentes and García if Juan shows them where he keeps his explosives stash. Juan additionally convinces Cerviño to cause one more diversion with his plane.

Juan and the guerrillas, this time led by Matilda Gómez herself, carry out an attack on the school. First, Cerviño uses his plane to drop manure on the police, distracting them long enough to allow Juan and Matilda to sneak into the building. Once inside, they bust García free, but due to AAA reinforcements, they're forced to leave Fuentes behind. The AAA and the communists face off in a massive shootout inside the school, which ends with most people on both sides dead.

Cerviño and his plane are followed by one of the few surviving AAA members, who shoots him when he lands. While fleeing the shootout at the school, Matilda and the other three surviving guerrillas get blown up by Almeido, who finishes them off in a suicide bombing. Suprino severely beats Fuentes and then Guglielmini tries to talk him into taking the blame for the whole ordeal. When he refuses, Guglielmini and Suprino leave, letting Rossi execute Fuentes. While leaving town, Suprino realizes Guglielmini plans to frame him for inciting the whole incident, so he runs him over with his truck before escaping.

When morning finally dawns, García and Juan go to Cerviño's house, where they find him, wounded but still alive. To comfort him in his dying moments, they tell him Fuentes won the battle. Cerviño makes them promise to tell General Perón about him if he ever returns to the country, after which he dies. Once they've buried Cerviño, Juan and García begin to head into the countryside while discussing the many ways they could convince Perón to return. The song "''Mi Buenos Aires Querido''" begins to play as the credits start rolling.

Junpei, a low-level yakuza of the Soryu Group in Okinawa, steals 500 million yen from his boss Shinjo en route to a heroin deal. Before Shinjo can punish him, the police raid the gang's office, saving Junpei's life by landing him in prison for five years. Upon release, he offers 5 million yen to the invincible professional bodyguard Kiba of the Kaito Karate dojo to escort him to the hidden loot so that he can find his girlfriend Yoko, a Taiwanese prostitute, and escape forever. Junpei is ambushed outside of the prison but Kiba fights off the attackers. Junpei grabs one of their guns, meaning that they cannot board a plane and they are forced to travel back to Okinawa by boat. Aboard the boat they are attacked by Okinawan karateka hired by Shinjo. Junpei attempts to use his gun but Kiba prevents him from using it and defeats the attackers with karate, after which Junpei throws his gun in the ocean before they arrive in Okinawa. Shinjo plants a fake quotes in the newspaper of Kiba ridiculing Okinawa Karate, causing Okinawa Karate to present a formal letter of challenge to Kiba. Tetsugen Daito, head of the Daito Karate school, accepts the challenge on Kiba's behalf defeats all of the challengers unarmed, yet others continue to attack Kiba and Junpei as they search for Yoko. They find Yoko but the Soryu Group has gotten her addicted to heroin and she works with them to fake her own kidnapping as well as the kidnapping of Tetsugen Daito's assistant Maki. Shinjo calls Junpei and demands the missing 500 million yen in exchange for the two women. Junpei retrieves the money from inside heavy bags at his old boxing gym. Later, a member of the Okinawa Karate school who is also an Okinawa police officer informs them that Maki is being held at Club Satine and that Yoko has become Shinjo's mole. The three men sneak into the club and rescue Maki, who helps them fight the other members of the Soryu Group at Shinjo's hideout. Junpei and Kiba defeat Junpei's old rival Yasunaga, then they confront Shinjo and Yoko on the roof. Shinjo gives Yoko a gun to kill Junpei but instead she shoots herself through the heart, killing herself as well as Shinjo behind her. Junpei leaves for Tokyo, promising to pay Kiba's fee when he arrives. The Okinawa cop then challenges Kiba for the honor of the Okinawa Karate school but is defeated in a battle of karate.

After saving a girl named Keiko from being attacked by a gang, Makoto Fukunaga and Eiji Yamada are expelled from Tsutenkaku High for fighting. Before they leave, they blackmail the administration into giving them one million yen as a parting gift by threatening to expose their secrets and ruin the reputation of the school. That night they follow the boss of the Kinsu sect, into an expensive hostess club and end up spending it all. The next day they respond to a job listing from the front company Takaranoyama Trading Ltd. offering 500,000 yen per month to young men with no experience and are forcibly conscripted into the Kinsu sect through contracts signed in blood, along with Tokichi Kinoshita, a student studying animal husbandry at Yamanosato University who ends up never being invited to participate in the activities of the other yakuza.

Head Captain Kaizo Daimon attempts to help Makoto and Eiji obtain money through collision insurance fraud but they end up in a collision with a police car. Sabu ends up pawning his gold-plated Kinsu sect badge as well as those of Makoto and Eiji to pay off the debt incurred from their failed used panties business.

At a hostess bar, Makoto encounters Keiko as she is leaving work and walks her home as she tells him about a film she will be starring in. Daimon and the boss of the Asashi sect get into a karaoke competition over a hostess named Akemi, then Daimon sees an ad to star in a pornographic film. Sabu informs Makoto that the production company, 7 Star Productions, is just a front company for the Asashi sect that produces porn. Makoto and Eiji race to the film set, where Daimon is realizing that the actress is not there willingly, and together they beat up the Asashi sect members and rescue Keiko.

Hosoda of the Asashi sect calls Amachi and demands a finger from Makoto and a finger from Eiji as well as monetary compensation as an apology but Daimon asks to be allowed to settle the dispute and the big boss allows it. Daimon, Makoto, and Eiji confront the Asashi and Daimon threatens the Asashi boss with fake dynamite he obtained from Kinoshita until they withdraw the demand for the finger and compensation. The dynamite ends up being real and explodes, yet Daimon, Makoto, and Eiji are so tough that they survive intact.

Professor Owl, who rushes to the schoolhouse full of his fine feathered students as a drum roll is played on a snare.

A brief musical section introduces us to "the subject for today": the study of musical instruments. Professor Owl explains to the class (and the viewer) that all music originates from four core sounds: toot (brass), whistle (woodwind), plunk (strings) and boom (percussion).

Toot

The film then jumps to a group of four cavemen, each of whom have discovered the nuclear form of one of the above sounds. We begin with a portly Caveman Toot who has discovered that blowing through an old cow's horn produces a pleasing "toot". We advance to ancient Egypt in 2000 BC, where Caveman Toot discovers that metal horns produce even better sounds. He celebrates by breaking into a two-note jazz solo as Egyptian characters painted on the walls boogie down.

We return to Professor Owl, who explains that making a trumpet longer made its tone lower. We then visit a Roman trumpeter who crashes into a column and bends his horn into a grotesque shape... however, he soon discovers that despite this change in form, the trumpet does not sound any different: it is possible to change the horn's shape without changing the pitch.

However, as Professor Owl explains, this horn can only produce certain notes; in order to get all of the notes required for even a simple tune, you would need four horns of different lengths. But if we create a horn with valves, we can effectively have four horns in one, and this fact is celebrated with another jazz solo.

Whistle

We return to the cavemen, where Caveman Whistle is trying to impress his "cavegirl" by blowing through a tube of grass; he further discovers that adding holes to the tube allows him to modify the "whistle" in interesting ways (the more holes Whistle adds the longer the grass tube gets and he invents the first flute). The cavegirl is impressed, but then a rival caveman appears, bonks the cavegirl on the head with his club, and drags her off by the hair (which makes Caveman Whistle angry).

Professor Owl explains that this system of holes is the basis for every woodwind instrument, including the clarinet played by Johann Sebastian Bach and the saxophone played by a beatnik.

Plunk

Caveman Plunk has discovered that plucking on the string of his bow produces a pleasant "plunk" sound. An offscreen choir explains (as the animation shows) how to create a simple harp from "taller" Caveman Plunk's bow by adding a jar to make a resonator, adding some extra strings, changing the jar to a box of wood, sliding it down and adding tuning pegs, and rearranging it all (and Plunk invents the first harp).

Professor Owl mentions that you can either pluck the harp, which played by a taller Caveman Plunk; or play it with a bow, which played by a shorter Caveman Plunk. We then briefly visit several periods in history, where we see several stringed instruments being played in similar fashion, and finish with a string quartet, and all of them ending with the strings being broken.

Boom

Caveman Boom hits his stomach to produce a "boom", and hits other things with his hand and his club to make other sounds. Professor Owl escorts us through history and explains how a variety of percussion instruments emerged from this basic theory, ranging from rattles to complex drum kits and even the bass drums of marching bands.

Conclusion

The chorus recaps that all music, from the trombone to the calliope to the banjo to Latin percussion to "music oriental" to an orchestra in a concert hall, emerge from the four core sounds with Caveman Toot in the brass section, Caveman Whistle in the woodwind section, Caveman Plunk in the string section and Caveman Boom in the percussion section, all wearing top hats.

The film is set in Armenia, in present-day Yerevan, with scenes to the ancient past, circa 301 AD, a time when pagan gods and priestesses ruled the nation.

In ''The Omega Stone'', players embark on an adventure to solve an ancient mystery, visiting locations such as the Great Sphinx of Giza, Stonehenge, Easter Island and even the ruins of Atlantis in the process. You travel to these sites with the use of passes where you investigate the area for clues on the location of 5 "Omega Discs". The locations of these, in addition to those already mentioned, include beneath the Bermuda Triangle (although where is unknown), inside the manor of an English Lord, inside the pyramid of Chichen Itza and a within a Druidic Compound.

Ryan Howard (B. J. Novak) invites Michael Scott (Steve Carell) to speak at his business-school class. Michael is excited, but Ryan admits in a talking head interview that he has only invited Michael because his professor promised to bump up the grade of any student who brings their boss into class. During his introduction of Michael, Ryan predicts that Dunder Mifflin will become obsolete within five to ten years. However, Michael could not hear him and proceeds to ruin the event with his antics (including tearing pages out of a student's textbook to prove you "can't learn from textbooks"). One of Ryan's classmates asks for Michael's opinion of Ryan's prediction, which Michael only just learns about. Infuriated and hurt, Michael rants about how Ryan has not made a sale before punishing him by relocating his desk to the "annex," where Kelly Kapoor (Mindy Kaling) works. Kelly babbles uncontrollably in excitement at the news.

Meanwhile, Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) discovers a bat in the ceiling. It flies through the office, sending the employees scurrying for cover. Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) and Karen Filippelli (Rashida Jones) exploit Dwight's paranoia, and pretend that Jim was bitten by the bat and is turning into a vampire. Jim calls animal control, but Dwight insists on catching the bat himself even after 5 p.m. passes and the other employees go home, except Meredith (Kate Flannery), who continues to hide in the breakroom for fear of the bat. Dwight eventually catches the bat with a garbage bag after it lands on Meredith's head.

Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer), in the meantime, invites her co-workers to her art show after work. At the show, Oscar Martinez (Oscar Nunez) and his partner Gil (Tom Chick) critique her art, with Gil dismissing it as "motel art," not realizing that she is standing right behind them. None of her other co-workers show, leaving her feeling alienated and sad. Roy comes by and compliments her work, but obviously does so as a "boyfriend's gesture" with no sincere appreciation for art. The general attendees show little interest in her drawings, and she begins to doubt her abilities. As she begins to take her work down, Michael arrives, having been delayed by the trip back to the office to move Ryan's things. He expresses sincere awe for her work and asks to buy her drawing of the office building, saying that he is very proud of her. Pam embraces him as her eyes tear up. Michael hangs Pam's drawing on the wall next to his office.

In ''The First Samurai'', the protagonist undertakes a quest as the first samurai in the history of feudal Japan, and must compete against rival swordsmen.

''The Truth about Nanjing'' is a three-part film. * The first section was "Seven condemned criminals" (The theme is Class A war criminals.) This part shows the last day of the seven people who were condemned to death in 1948 by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East and executed on 23 December 1948 at Sugamo Prison, Tokyo. The film focuses on Iwane Matsui's campaign in Nanking through flashbacks. Focus is put on each of the seven men. * The second section was for verification. (Documentary) * The third section was for America. (Drama)

Set in the early 1990s, Dana (Shea Curry), a recently divorced young woman embarking on an acting career. Months earlier she met a young, charismatic, theater castmate, Jack (Michael Buie), in the spring play at the local dinner theater. They seemingly look like good friends until flashbacks expose their history and brush with romance. Thus, "can a man and woman really be 'just friends . ''Only For You'' is a story about life, love, friendships, choices and believing in ourselves at all costs. It addresses the question: "What happens when you find the right love at the wrong time?" and it is a story about life, love, friendships, choices and believing in ourselves at all costs.

In preparation for sending a crewed rocket into space, American scientists Dr. Quent Brady and Dan Morgan are put in charge of a program that sends various animals and insects into space to test their survival rates. After one of their rockets carrying wasps malfunctions and goes off course, a computer calculates that the rocket is likely to land somewhere off the coast of Africa. Some time later, in a remote part of Africa, Dr. Lorentz and his daughter Lorna perform an autopsy on a native and determine that he died of paralysis of the nerve centers caused by an injection of a massive amount of venom. Arobi, Lorentz's African assistant, then informs him that a monster is believed to be terrorizing people and animals in an area known as Green Hell.

Several months later, Brady reads a newspaper account of turmoil in Central Africa caused by gigantic monsters and surmises that the wasps in the missing rocket were exposed to huge amounts of cosmic radiation because an earlier, minimal overexposure had resulted in the birth of a spider crab twice the size of its mother. Brady and Morgan request a leave of absence from Washington and head for Africa to investigate.

In Libreville, equatorial Africa, the territorial agent makes plans for them to travel to meet Dr. Lorentz. Once the safari is ready, Mahri, an Arab, leads Brady and Morgan on the four-hundred mile trek to Lorentz's hospital. The safari battles brush fires, fever, drought and storms, eventually reaching the Lorentz compound where Lorna informs them that her father has not returned from a journey to Green Hell. Later, Arobi arrives with the news that Lorentz has been killed by a monster living in the cauldron of a volcano and gives Brady a giant stinger that he removed from the doctor's shoulder. After Brady analyzes the stinger, he confirms that it belongs to a giant, deadly wasp. Although Brady advises Lorna to stay at the hospital, she insists on accompanying him, Morgan, Mahri and Arobi to Green Hell.

When the native bearers learn of the destination, they desert, and although Lorna is able to shame several local villagers into helping, they, too, run off when the group comes upon a deserted native village littered with dead bodies. After Brady expresses his concern that the insects may be multiplying rapidly and could eventually overrun all of Africa, he states that they must destroy the queen and her immediate colony. Brady then explains to Mahri that he has brought small grenade-like bombs, filled with a special explosive, to use against the monsters. As they move closer to the base of the volcano, which shows signs of an imminent eruption, they hear a very loud, buzzing sound.

When Brady looks down from a ridge above the volcano, he finds the queen wasp and several gigantic workers. The four men toss grenades into the bowl, but the explosions only serve to anger the wasps. Lorna and the men are pursued by one of the wasps, the size of a large building, but hide in a cave that it cannot enter. The group escapes through another entrance and, just as they emerge, the volcano erupts, spewing massive lava flows that destroy all the wasps in the conflagration. Morgan then notes that nature has a way of destroying its mistakes.

"Bad" Bascomb is a notorious outlaw wanted by federal marshals after outwitting every group sent to capture him. He and fellow bandit Bart Yancey, a cold-blooded killer, have again eluded the marshals by joining a Mormon wagon train heading to Utah. They pretend to be helpful, and Bascomb becomes fond of an admiring little girl who attaches herself to him played by O'Brien. Beery eventually distances himself from Yancey by thwarting an attempted robbery and then saves the wagon train from an attack by Indians by riding to get help, before being taken captive by the marshal at the end of the movie.

In 1892 Death Valley, California, dwindling borax deposits have the Desert Borax Company at the brink of bankruptcy. The company is unable to pay its transport drivers, the 20 mule teams that haul the borax across the desert. Skinner Bill is one of the mule team drivers. Without pay, he's unable to pay his rent. Josie Johnson, owner of the Furnace Flat saloon, puts Bill out.

Stag Roper arrives in town and persuades the bank to extend the borax company's credit, hoping to discover more borax. Stag learns that Bill has found borax crystals from Chuckwalla, who died in the desert. Stag knows Bill is wanted for murder and blackmails him to help get Chuckwalla's claim. Bill agrees, and the next day sets out with Pete to locate the claim. Chuckwalla's partner was Mitch, and a shootout ensues as he tries to protect his claim.

Josie's daughter Jean plans to elope with Stag, but Josie locks her in her room and confronts Stag. He shoots Josie, after which he and his partner, Salters, ride off to steal Mitch's claim.

Bill and Pete head after Stag, and find Mitch unconscious in the desert. Following a shootout with Stag, Bill puts Mitch on his mule and sends him back to town.

Mitch marries Josie, and they move to Los Angeles.

In this sequel in the series about "Tugboat" Annie Brennan, skipper on the Narcissus, she is still feuding with her arch-rival, Captain Bullwinkle, a Washington State tugman.

Annie's volatile personality makes her come very close to losing her job as captain. The company she works for, Secoma Towing and Salvage Company, gets into real financial trouble when it fails to pay a due invoice of $25,000. Annie has to run the company while the president, Alec Severn, is at the bank trying to fix things.

Annie gets explicit orders to steer clear of the new shipyard owner, millionaire J.B. Armstrong, but she still goes into negotiations with him, trying to get him to sign a profitable contract with the company. Of course the attempt turns into a complete failure, when Annie mistakes the millionaire for another man, treating him harshly and even manages to throw him into a heap of fish. The result is that the shipyard owner cancels the already existing contract with the company altogether.

On top of this, Annie's rival Bullwinkle tricks her into going out to sea to salvage a ship that turns out to be a whale. She manages to save the day after all when she pulls a big ship off a ground, after Bullwinkle has failed to do the same. Annie demands $25,000 as payment for the tugging, and the invoice can be paid after all.

Alec's confidence in Annie is restored and he sends her to negotiate a big job of towing a dry dock all the way to Alaska for the shipyard owner Armstrong. This negotiation too ends in failure, since he doesn't want to give the job to a woman. Shrewdly, Annie goes around this obstacle, by appointing her old friend Mike Mahoney as captain temporarily.

However, it turns out Mahoney has become a helpless drunk, and Annie has to step in to save the situation after all. Still, problems keep surfacing, and Annie finds Armstrong's spoiled daughter, Peggy, on the ship. She has hidden there to accompany her lover Eddie Kent, who is Annie's young ward.

During a storm at sea, Annie is then forced to leave the dock on a beach to save it from breaking and sinking in the waves. She also has to go ashore to hospitalize Mahoney, who has become very sick. When she is ashore, Bullwinkle steals the dock and claims finders keepers on it, according to general salvage rules. When the contract seems to have been breached, Alec fires Annie who was in charge of letting the dock go.

Before retiring entirely, Annie looks into the salvage laws, and finds that a dry dock doesn't count as a ship and the salvage claim therefore doesn't apply to it. She wins the dock back from Bullwinkle, and is reinstated as captain again.

Right after the war has ended, tugboats are allowed to freely operate again in the US coastal waters. The owner of Secoma Towing & Salvage, Alec Severn (Joseph Crehan), starts searching for the famous Tugboat Annie Brennan (Jane Darwell), to incorporate her back as the captain of his fleet of tugboats.

Severn is unaware that captain Bullwinkle (Edgar Kennedy), Annie’s long time rival, has his own agenda and wants to take Annie’s place as captain of the fleet. Bullwinkle intentionally gives Severn the wrong address to Annie, in an attempt to put her in bad standing when she doesn’t respond to Severn’s letter and request.

Somehow, Annie still gets in touch with Severn and is appointed captain. She starts hiring his crew, an experienced lot of sailors: Pinto (Mantan Moreland), Shiftless (Jack Norton), Missouri Jones (Barton Yarborough) and Johnny Webb (Hardie Albright). Work commences and Annie runs across an orphan named Susan Henley (Saundra Berkova). She is a violin virtuose, and since Annie has worked with her father before the war, and very much would like a child of her own, she wants to adopt Susan as her own. Severn disagrees and claims the child would be better off on shore with his own family. Instead Annie gets to adopt a juvenile delinquent boy, with the help of a judge. It turns out the boy, whose name is Terry Jordan (Charles Gordon), is quite hostile towards Annie, and both she and her crew have difficulties in putting up with his antics.

Susan gets to play for a famous conductor, a womanizing musician, Alfred Puccini (Fritz Feld) whom Annie knew a long time ago, under a different name. Meanwhile, Annie still struggles in winning the heart of Terry, who resists all her friendly attempts.

When Annie gets a very important and acute mission, Bullwinkle secretly empties her fuel tanks and sabotages her radio communication so that he can steal the job. Terry gets the blame for the sabotage, and gets into a fight with one of the crew members because of this. When Terry discovers sees that the man he’s fighting is a wounded veteran, he lets the man win. After this, he is respected by the whole crew as a decent boy. Terry finds out that Bullwinkle was the one who sabotaged the tugboat, and forces him to admit this to Annie.

Terry then leaves the ship, leaving a note of explanation for his behaviour and departure. he says he will be back one day. Annie starts focusing more on Susan’s upcoming violin concert. The debut is a success, despite the fact that Susan is only eleven years old.

A fire rages the tugboat when Annie returns from the concert, and Terry is back with the crew to help put it out. Even Bullwinkle helps out. When the tugboat tows an oil tanker that has caught fire, and the boat is at risk because of the huge flames, Johnny dies saving Terry’s life. The hardship makes Annie want to quit as captain, but Severn and Terry persuades her to stay on. Susan gets a contract with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra and Annie makes up with Bullwinkle again.

Annie Brennan, widowed and the former skipper of a garbage scow, now captains a ship owned by the Severn Tugboat Company. A sympathetic, 50-year-old woman, her adventures consist of the humorous situations that develop when she attempts to assist people in trouble. Horatio Bullwinkle, a rival tugboat captain refers to her as "The Old Petticoat." The two of them traded insults and stole jobs from each other throughout the run of the series.

Honest Plush Brannon (Wallace Beery) is a confidence man from the Barbary Coast in San Francisco. He is engaged to Li'l Damish (Binnie Barnes) who is a saloon owner. Plush is in need of money to prove he can stand on his own. His plan to come by some money is disturbed by his ex-companion, Duke Cleat (John Carradine), who accuses Plush of doing him wrong in the past. After a quick showdown, Plush manages to shoot and wound Duke badly. Because of this, Plush is forced to leave town, and decides to take the train to Denver to find his luck. Aboard the train he meets an industrial railroad Millionaire, Bradford Bellamy I (Donald Meek) and convinces him he is about to serve the man in a blackmailing process. Bellamy I wants to throw Plush off the train, but instead they make a deal, that Plush will hold a speech in Bellamy I's name in Gold Town. Plush pretends to be Bellamy I's financial voice and is greeted as such in Gold Town. Even his old partner with whom he used to rob stage coaches, Johnny Adair (Ray Collins), believes him. Johnny's daughter, Portia (Frances Rafferty) is engaged to Bellamy I's grandson, Bradford Bellamy III (Bruce Kellogg). When Plush is attending a ceremony and is about to dedicate a cornerstone in the city, he accidentally discovers that the stone has gold in it. Plush prevents an article declaring that Bellamy III is engaging another woman, an Eastern debutante, to reach the press, and since Bellamy III have no intentions of engaging anyone but Portia, he is grateful to Plush. When the gold finding in the cornerstone is confirmed, Plush clais the ground where the stone is, and everyone in Gold Town wants to invest in his newly founded gold-mining company. Back in San Francisco, Duke has recovered from his injuries and seeks revenge. He finds out about Plush's luck, and at gun-point he forces Plush to give all his earnings to him. Broke and homeless, Plush is forced to rob a Wells Fargo payroll stagecoach. He leaves a poem at the crime scene, and after a few more robberies, he is known as the outlaw "Jingle Bill". The only stage coach that never gets robbed is the one Johnny drives. Plush uses his booty to start up the mining for gold in his company, and soon enough he strikes gold. In an attempt to catch the robber, Plush is forced to stage a robbery against Johnny's coach, in which Plush participates. Plush is shot and wounded by Johnny. Meanwhile, Li'l has come to Gold Town to warn Plush that Duke has been at her place, stolen a bunch of Plush's poems, and is headed to Gold Town. After the fake robbery, suspicion falls on Plush to be the robber. When Duke confronts Plush in the street, the two men once again have a showdown, ultimately shooting each other. Duke dies from his wounds, and the stolen poems are found on his body. Duke is taken for Jingle Bill, but Plush steps up and confesses he is the robber. He waves goodbye to Li'l, Bellamy III and Portia, as he is off to serve a one-year sentence in prison.

Pop Jones inherits a piece of family land in Montana, so he and his daughter, Sierra Nevada, decide to leave their Texas ranch and move there. As she bathes in a pond along the trail, Sierra Nevada encounters a stranger, Farrell, a hired gunman who warns her about dangerous Indians nearby.

Farrell is on his way to work for Tom McCord, a rich rancher. Quite a bit of rustling has been going on in the territory of late. McCord is in cahoots with Indians, in particular Natchakoa of the Blackfoot tribe, whose braves stampede the Jones family's cattle, knock Sierra cold, wound her cowhand Nat and kill Pop, after which McCord steals a document from Pop's dead body that grants rights to the land.

Sierra is nursed back to health by Colorados, a young Blackfoot who attends school among the whites, to the displeasure of the tribal chief, his father. McCord offers a $2,000 bounty to Farrell if he kills Sierra and Nat, but instead Farrell comes to her rescue.

Farrell reveals that he is actually an agent for the U.S. Cavalry, investigating the rustling and killing. With the help of Sierra, he blows up a McCord wagon filled with ammunition being sold to the Indians, doing away with McCord once and for all and bringing peace to the territory at last.

In a seedy bar in a town ravaged by war, scientist and businessman Hunt (Julian Wadham) hires former Royal Marine turned mercenary D.C. (Ray Stevenson) to assemble a crack team of ex-soldiers – Prior (Richard Brake), Jordan (Paul Blair), Cotter (Enoch Frost), Voyteche (Julian Rivett), McKay (Michael Smiley) and Taktarov (Brett Fancy) – to protect him on a dangerous journey into no-man's land. Their mission is to scope out an old military bunker in Eastern Europe, likely in Kosovo. Voyteche, one of the mercenaries, claims that there is nothing important located in the area they are heading to. As the mercenaries approach their destination, they hear sounds of fighting off in the distance; fighter jets pass overhead, and artillery can be heard as well. As they make their way through the woods an intense burst of static knocks out their radio communications. The mercenaries speculate as to what their job is and why they have been hired.

Reaching their destination, the team discovers that the location is a seemingly abandoned bunker complex. Leaving two of the mercenaries, Jordan and Taktarov, above ground to watch their backs, the rest of the team fans out and begins to explore the outpost. Above ground, Jordan notices a flash of light coming from the tree line. The two mercenaries assume that it is sunlight flashing off a scope and open fire, causing the rest of the team to come racing back up the top. Another burst of static is heard over the team’s radio, and suddenly radio operator McKay is wounded. D.C. soon realizes that it doesn’t seem like anyone is actually out there, as the only shot fired in return was the one which wounded McKay. Taktarov, who had continued to fire after D.C. ordered a halt, is sent out into the tree line in order to check for a body or blood. He returns a minute later to report that there was no sign of a shooter— no bodies, no blood, not even shell casings to indicate anyone had been there.

The mercenaries get back to work exploring the bunker; despite it seemingly having been abandoned for decades they discover a small modern metal crucifix necklace dangling in a forgotten corner of the bunker. Locating the bunker’s generator, D.C. and Hunt get to work restoring the power. Cotter and McKay discover a room filled with corpses and are horrified when an arm suddenly shoots up from the pile of corpses. They frantically call for Jordan, the team’s medic. D.C. leaves Prior to protect Hunt while he and Jordan race to the scene and begin tending to the survivor, Götz (Johnny Meres).

As the lights come on, Prior discovers a room with a projector screen. Lifting it up, a flag can be seen on the wall behind it. Prior then slowly steps back, revealing the swastika on the flag — the emblem of the Nazi Party.

The mercenaries begin interrogating Götz, who is catatonic, with McKay being particularly demanding. The mercenaries assume that local paramilitaries had used the bunker to hide the evidence of ethnic cleansing. Prior shows them the Nazi flag he found, and Jordan suggests that there might be a stockpile of Nazi gold, looted from the nations they conquered, hidden in the bunker. D.C. orders the rest of the team to prepare defenses for a long stay, as they assume whoever shot at them earlier was likewise looking for gold. McKay sets up a command post in a central room, propping Götz up in a nearby chair, while Hunt begins to go through a set of documents. He then heads into a back room where he discovers an odd spherical machine known as ''Die Glocke'' — an example of occult Nazi experiments. He reports his discovery to the ex-soldiers.

Out of boredom, McKay sets up a chessboard on the table between himself and Götz. Going through a box full of personal effects, he discovers an old German coin. Dropping it, McKay reaches down to pick it back up....only to see the jackbooted legs of a pair of men standing next to Götz. Hurriedly throwing himself to the side, McKay readies his rifle, only for there to be no sign of the two men. D.C. wanders into the room to see McKay lying on the floor, and is less than impressed. He sends McKay to try and get the radio working again.

Hunt, meanwhile, is working in the room with ''Die Glocke''; over his shoulder the form of a SS trooper can be seen stepping out of the shadows. A noise is heard in the background, and Hunt heads to the door, but can’t get it open. As he fiddles with it, the SS trooper suddenly looms up behind him, and heavy breathing can be heard; Hunt spins around quickly, only for there to be nothing there again. He is angry, assuming that one of the mercenaries was playing a prank on him. He then fills D.C. in on the premise behind ''Die Glocke'' — that it was a project carried out by the SS during World War II, using reality shifting and reanimation to create invincible soldiers.

Additional paranormal events continue to happen to the men in the outpost. McKay manages to get the original bunker radio equipment working, initially producing eerily scream-like static before suddenly switching to classical music. Despite unplugging the radio, McKay is unable to get it to stop functioning before it suddenly shuts itself off in a small explosion.

That night, the clearing around the bunker is suddenly shrouded by an eerie mist, and silhouettes of SS troopers are seen up on the ridgeline, causing the mercenaries to open fire. Despite all their shooting, the figures on the ridge don’t seem to be affected, and an intense windstorm forces the mercenaries to take cover. When they emerge from cover, Taktarov is missing. The mercenaries discover that their claymore land mines are intact, meaning that there wasn’t a way for their enemies to get in close. D.C. discovers an Iron Cross badge and blood on the ground near Taktarov's position. Back in the bunker, Jordan shows D.C. the round he removed while treating McKay’s wound— a German rifle round not in use since the Second World War. The bullet is warped and deformed; the odds that it could have been fired from a rifle are slim. D.C. drags Götz into an interrogation room and threatens him with a pistol; he still doesn’t speak, but he clearly snaps out of his catatonia, indicating it may have been act all along.

D.C. demands answers regarding the assignment from Hunt: an unnamed corporation wanted Hunt to find and recover a large generator-like device responsible for the SS reality-shifting experiments. Hunt thinks that the German experiments with the nature of reality trapped them within the area around the bunker. He reveals that his backers have contacts in Interpol and if the team tries to leave early hit men will be dispatched to go after the mercenaries’ families, as well as his own.

Above ground, Taktarov is brutally tortured and killed by the undead SS; a short time later, as the other mercenaries discuss their pasts and keep watch, Voyteche, who is off on his own on the other side of the perimeter, is silently stabbed to death by a pair of undead SS troopers. The next morning, Voyteche and Taktarov's dead bodies are found joined at the head, with Taktarov's skull containing a spent round. The second killing is the final straw for D.C. Despite the threat of Hunt’s backers, he decides to leave the bunker. Hunt protests vehemently and returns to the generator room, with D.C. sending Cotter to retrieve him.

Cotter reaches the generator room and ignores Hunt’s dire warnings to try and get him ready to leave. Suddenly, Hunt freezes and stares, as the form of another SS trooper emerges behind Cotter. Hearing the heavy breathing and noticing Hunt’s reaction, Cotter orders Hunt to run as he draws his knife and swings at the SS trooper, who ducks and buries a pickaxe in Cotter’s chest. The undead SS soldier then crushes Cotter’s skull, killing him. Hunt snatches up Cotter’s AKM assault rifle and fires several bursts into the SS soldier’s back, which only seems to irritate it. The remaining mercenaries come running, only for the figure to vanish as they fire at it. D.C. and Hunt show the surviving mercenaries the tape of the SS experiments.

It is revealed on the tape that Götz is actually a surviving SS ''Brigadeführer'' and the man responsible for running the experiments at the outpost. An enraged Prior promptly shoots him in the head. After Prior kills Götz, the "breather" comes back to life almost immediately. The lights go out, and MacKay is killed, with the team discovering his corpse at the bunker’s entrance. The mercenaries and Hunt attempt to restart ''Die Glocke'' to neutralize the powers of the undead SS and trap them to evacuate the outpost.

The surviving mercenaries engage in a battle with the undead SS garrison, now led by Götz. The mercenaries slowly retreat as the undead SS advance into the bunker, using the narrow confines to buy themselves time. Prior delays too long in retreating down one of the corridors and is overrun, but manages to finish off a few of the undead SS before being killed himself. Hunt manages to get ''Die Glocke'' working, setting off a shockwave which seemingly disables the attacking undead SS. The unstable machine promptly shuts down again and the SS get back to their feet. Jordan is pulled down a side corridor and killed. D.C. tries to buy time for Hunt to escape through the bunker’s ventilation system, only to be overrun and killed after a heroic last stand. Hunt makes it to a set of doors to an upper level of the outpost, only to be confronted by Götz and his men blocking his way. Hunt is pulled down from behind and killed.

A second corporate team arrives 72 hours later to carry out the same assignment, only to find a "breather" among the piles of naked corpses. The clearing is lit again, revealing the illuminated soldiers surrounding the bunker. In the distance stands the ''Brigadeführer'', who gives the SS soldiers a nod and they begin their assault on the team.

The Doom Brigade chronicles the former First Dragonarmy Engineering Regiment's quest to recover the first female draconians on Krynn after the War of the Lance.

The brigade has left the dragonarmies in search for a new life, and led by Commander Kang, a Bozak, and Subcommander Slith, they have set up a small town in the valleys below the Kharolis Mountains. Unfortunately, their neighbors are hill dwarves in the town of Celebundin, who are not very receptive to the idea of Draconian neighbours.

For the last twenty five years, raids have occurred every couple of weeks, whether the draconians are short on dwarf spirits, or the dwarves are short on other supplies. However, they have grown to respect each other, and so have made a silent pact to only use blunt weapons, so that the victim is only knocked out or stunned.

While en route to raiding the dwarves one day, one of Kang's scouts reports a pair of red dragons on the horizon. Kang, curious, leads his troops to a pass on the outskirts of the Plains of Dust, where he meets Talon Leader Huzzud. Huzzud, a Knight of the Lily, is a talon leader for the Fifth Dragonarmy, which is led by General Ariakan. She proposes that Kang and his regiment join their army to retake Ansalon, but Kang decides to inspect their camp first.

After inspecting the armies' camp and speaking to their commander, Kang realizes that this force does not consist of untamed goblins like in the previous war, but a well-trained and deadly force of knights. He realizes that since draconians cannot breed, it would be better to die fighting then to just slowly fade away. On that note, he signs himself and his regiment up.

Soon after, they are called to assist the dragonarmy in the conquering of Qualinost. Once they arrive, they are ordered to report for latrine duty. Disgusted, Kang's regiment revolts, and returns to their town. On their return, however, they find their village in flames. They slaughter any dwarves that they can find in their village, and nail their bodies to posts.

Meanwhile, four dwarves who regularly make trips to search for riches, Pestle, Mortar, Auger and Selquist discover a map leading to the lost treasures of Neraka while raiding Thorbardin through a secret passage.

Plotting revenge, Kang orders a small group of five draconians, including himself and Slith, to enter the dwarven town to find out who burned down their village. Slith and the other three shape shift into dwarven guards, while Kang turns invisible. However, when the dwarves discover one of the draconians, the five beat a hasty retreat. Slith managed to steal a book with the map secreted within it from Selquist before they retreated; however, Selquist now pursues the draconians. After he catches Kang, he drives a knife into Kang's leg, temporarily crippling him. The dwarf and the draconians squabble over the book, ending up with the dwarf regaining the book, but the draconians keeping the cover, which has the map hidden inside it. The draconians retreat into their camp, unbeknownst to the fact they have the map to the Nerakan treasures.

A few days later, Selquist appears at the draconian camp, begging Kang to remove a curse which he believes has been put on him. Kang does so after being told that the map leads to unhatched draconian females. Knowing that "rescuing" the females is the only way to continue their own race, Kang and twenty-four other draconians set out to retrieve the eggs. Unfortunately, the four dwarves decide to destroy the eggs and steal the treasure. Joined by a retinue from Moorthane, the dwarven war chief, and twenty guards, the dwarves set out.

For many days and nights, Kang's regiment follow the dwarves. Just before entering Thorbardin, however, Kang is visited by Huzzud, who warns him that the Dark Queen wishes him to complete some great task before he gains the eggs. Unable to be told more, Kang leaves Huzzud.

After traveling for a long while in the tunnels of Thorbardin, the dwarves stumble upon a grell. Grells are large, green octopus-like creatures that float above the ground who live underground. Unfortunately, this one has a wand of The Dark Queen. After a long battle, the draconians join in, slaying the grell and taking the wand. Later, just before reaching their goal, they stumble on a lair of rock and molten lava. Out of the lava rises a massive fire dragon, made out of chaos, which if unstopped, would destroy all of Krynn. Kang realizes that this was the grand test that he had been assigned, and orders his regiment back. Kang almost dies battling the dragon, until he uses the wand to create water to cool himself and solidify the creature. He then creates mud to bury it, gaining himself and his regiment precious time; unfortunately, there's actually an entire nest. While the draconians (who join Kang) are battling the dragons, the dwarves move into the treasure room. After losing a good number of men to the dragons, Kang realizes the only way to defeat them. He orders his regiment back, and commands the wand to cause the stalagmites from the roof to fall into the nest. The wand obeys, and Kang rushes for the exit. He barely makes it, but weak and injured, he falls unconscious. After waking, he discovers he's trapped, until he hears Slith's voice through the rocks. Heartened, the draconians dig through the rocks to rescue Kang. It is then they realize that they are only 100 odd meters away from the eggs.

After realizing this, they rush forward, only to find the dwarves about to kill the young. After negotiating, they reach an agreement. Kang's regiment shows the dwarves the way out of Thorbardin and the draconians keep the young and move out of the valley. The novel ends with Selquist, too injured carry his treasure, bargaining with Gloth ( a draconian subcommander ), over a map to an abandoned city just south of Nordmaar.

Dr. Christine Allison (Susan Hayward) is convicted of manslaughter for the mercy killing of her terminally ill, married lover. After serving two years in prison, she is unable to find work.

Help comes from a surprising source—she is approached by Stephen Dane (Peter Finch), the man who prosecuted her, to look after his disturbed wife Liane (Diane Cilento). Suspicious, she presses him for the reason he wants her. His need is a trained doctor, but not one who has the power to commit Liane to a mental asylum. Since Christine's medical license has been taken away, she is perfect. Desperate, she accepts the job.

Christine's misgivings about Stephen's motives increase as time goes by. The final straw comes when Liane's father, Captain Ferris (Cyril Cusack), unexpectedly appears while the Danes are out. Christine had been told that his death in a car accident had unhinged Liane. He leaves without seeing his daughter, despite Christine's pleas.

Christine tells Liane the truth and persuades her to go back to her childhood home in Ireland to see her father. They find him there, drunk and living with a woman. A disillusioned Liane has another breakdown. When Stephen shows up, she falls while running away. The injury is not serious, and the doctor gives Christine a bottle of pills. As instructed, she gives Liane two to help her sleep.

The next morning, Liane is found dead and the bottle is missing. At the inquest, the coroner (J.G. Devlin) uncovers Christine's past. In her defense, she accuses Stephen of hiring her to draw suspicion away from him.

During a recess, she notices Ferris looking at his heirloom pocket watch, though Liane had stolen it and had it with her the night before her death. He admits Liane took the overdose herself. He found her dead and took the bottle away. In the past, he had been prosecuted by Stephen and had tried to bribe him by sending his then seventeen-year-old daughter to Stephen's hotel room. When the charges were dropped (though Stephen claims it was for other reasons), Ferris began blackmailing him. Stephen finally balked at paying more money, so Ferris took the opportunity to get back at him.

As the police try to take him into custody, Ferris leans against a rotted fence and falls to his death. Stephen asks Christine for a lift and they drive away together.

In 1789, Rachel Donelson Robards meets Tennessee's attorney general, Andrew Jackson, for the first time when he seeks room and board at her mother's farm near Nashville. John Overton, Andrew's law partner and Rachel's cousin, had recommended Andrew, and Mrs. Donelson welcomes the young attorney, who also has experience fighting Indians. Andrew becomes infatuated with the lovely Rachel and is disappointed when her moody husband, Lewis Robards, comes from Harrodsburg to ask her to return home. Lewis apologizes for his jealous, antagonistic behavior, but upon their return, Rachel discovers that Lewis has been having an affair with a slave girl. The sympathetic Mrs. Robards writes to Mrs. Donelson, telling her that Rachel wishes to go back to Nashville, and Mrs. Donelson sends Andrew to retrieve her. Infuriated, Lewis pulls a gun on Andrew, but Andrew easily disarms him and leaves with Rachel. The couple evade a band of Indians, then stop for the night at an inn to avoid further danger. When they arrive at the farm in the morning, they learn that Lewis has arrived before them. Lewis demands that Rachel leave with him, and when she refuses, he threatens to return the following morning with gun-toting relatives. Desperate to protect Rachel, Mrs. Donelson asks flatboat owners Capt. and Mrs. Stark to take Rachel to Natchez, but the Starks refuse to accept the responsibility unless a man accompanies Rachel. Andrew volunteers, and after they fend off an Indian attack, the couple kiss and realize that they have fallen in love. In Spanish-controlled Natchez, Andrew tells Rachel that she could obtain an annulment there and they could marry, but that their marriage would not be legal in the United States. Rachel refuses to let Andrew give up his career and asks him to return to Nashville to obtain a divorce for her. Before he leaves, however, Andrew receives a letter from John announcing that Lewis has gotten a divorce, charging Rachel with adultery. Although she is crushed by the accusation, Rachel marries Andrew, and after they return to Nashville, the couple spend two happy years together. Rachel is sad that they do not have children, but is content to be with Andrew. One day, John arrives with news that he had been mistaken, as Lewis had only petitioned for a divorce without actually obtaining one. Now, however, Lewis has divorced Rachel on grounds of adultery. Rachel begs Andrew to marry her again, although he believes that holding another ceremony will be an admission that they were in the wrong. After the wedding, Rachel and Andrew go to town, where Lewis' cousin Jason makes a crude remark about Rachel. Andrew almost beats Jason to death before being pulled away, then, during the drive home, Andrew and Rachel learn that Rachel's brother has been killed by Indians. Heading a militia troop, Andrew leaves to fight the Indians, and Rachel and her slave Moll work the fields alone for a year and a half until Andrew returns. Rachel is delighted to see her husband, and overjoyed that he has brought her an orphaned Indian infant, whom they name Lincoya. Andrew was forced to sell their home to equip his men, although he soon builds Rachel a fine new home in Nashville, which they call "The Hermitage." Rachel spends the next eight years happily, although Andrew is often gone fighting Indians or serving in Congress. One day, Rachel is invited to join a ladies' club, but is upset to learn that most of the women, still believing that Rachel is an adulteress, have refused to allow her admittance. Humiliated, Rachel returns home, where she is horrified to discover that Lincoya has died suddenly during her brief absence. Andrew finally comes home, and soon makes a large gentleman's wager on a horse race. Rachel is thrilled when Andrew wins and is told that he has been appointed the general of the state militia. Jealous Charles Dickinson makes a cutting remark about Andrew stealing another man's wife, however, and Andrew again loses his temper and challenges Dickinson to a duel. Rachel begs Andrew not to fight, but he insists on defending her honor. During the duel, Andrew is seriously wounded but manages to kill Dickinson. Although she is glad to have her husband home, Rachel is heartbroken that their lives have again been disrupted by scandalmongers. Andrew promises Rachel that he will lift her so high that no one will dare whisper a word against her, but his promise is delayed by the war of 1812, during which he is away fighting for two years. Andrew returns home a hero, but when politics call again, he returns to Washington, leaving Rachel home alone. Finally, in 1825, Andrew is persuaded to run for president, although John warns him that his enemies will run a virulent campaign against him and he will have to control his temper. Rachel, who is in failing health, sneaks out one night to listen to Andrew speak at a rally, and is crushed to hear the jeering crowd yell out that they will not have a murderer for a president or a prostitute as the first lady. Rachel collapses as she stumbles through the streets, and Andrew stays by her bedside night and day. When Andrew receives word that he has won the election, Rachel tearfully acknowledges that he kept his promise to raise her to grand heights. She then tells him that she will not be able to accompany him, and with her dying breath, asks him not to carry spite with him. Soon after, in Washington, just before his inaugural speech, Andrew gazes at a miniature of Rachel and vows that his memories will keep him company for the rest of his life.

In 1847, Paul van Riebeck (Tyrone Power), a Boer cavalry commander, travels to Ireland from South Africa to buy horses for his commandos back home. He meets Katie O'Neill (Susan Hayward), daughter of the man selling the horses. She falls in love, but Paul tells her that he has dedicated himself to the establishment of a new country.

Squire O'Neill (Henry O'Neill) dies during the Great Famine that devastates Ireland. Katie marries Shawn Kildare (John Justin) and they emigrate to South Africa. Their son is born on the sea voyage to Cape Town. They and their friend Aggie O'Toole join a group of settlers on an 800-mile trek to Hoffen Valley for free farm land. The most dangerous part of the journey is the crossing of Zulu territory; Van Riebeck and his men are supposed to escort them at that point, but they do not show up at the rendezvous. Kurt Hout, son of the trek leader, becomes enamoured with Katie, even though he already has a girlfriend, Julia, who has also come on the trek.

Later, a scout reports that thousands of Zulus are camped ahead of them. They prepare defenses. Simon Hout tries to negotiate with the Zulus, but they attack. Alerted by Tschaka, Paul and his men arrive and save the settlers, but Shawn is among the dead. Told by his friend Kurt that Katie is his woman, Paul tries to stay away, but when Katie tells him that she loves him, he tells her that he loves her too. Feeling betrayed, Kurt attacks Paul with a whip, but is beaten.

Katie and Paul begin building a home, with the help of natives and Aggie. Then Lieutenant Christian arrives to tell Paul that he must either return to his men or disband the commando. Despite Katie's strong resistance, Paul chooses the former, earning her public declaration of hatred.

Later, Kurt shows up and helps her run the farm and the native workers, still hoping she will fall for him, though he is displeased to find Julia also working for her. Provoked by Julia, Kurt starts to chop down a tree Katie expressly ordered him not to. When Katie tries to stop him, he tries to force himself on her, even though Katie tells him she is pregnant. Lightning from a storm strikes the tree, causing it to fall on Kurt, resulting in the amputation of one of his legs. The storm wrecks the farm. Katie has her second child, whom she names Paul, and starts rebuilding her farm.

An itinerant peddler informs the settlers that next time he will no longer accept Dutch money, only gold, which is present in the nearby mountains. Katie starts trading her meager possessions to the natives for gold. Then one trades her a diamond, one of the largest ever found in South Africa. With the money, she settles into a life of luxury in Cape Town in Paul's refurbished childhood home. Years pass, and Katie is lonely without him.

Finally, Paul's dream is realized: the Dutch Free State is born. Seeking representation in the national assembly for his state, Paul comes to Cape Town, where he is reunited with Katie. They still love each other, but quarrel, and Katie orders Paul to leave.

She loses her fortune, so she takes her sons and Aggie to Kolesburg in search of diamonds, despite being warned that outlaws have taken it over. She discovers that Kurt is the embittered leader of the outlaws. The same day, Paul shows up with his men to retake Kolesburg for the government. Kurt prepares an ambush, but Paul outwits him and captures all of his men. Kurt takes Paul's son hostage and gets ready to shoot an unarmed Paul, but Tschaka kills him with his spear. Paul slips a wedding ring on Katie's finger and they set out for Hoffen.

In France in 1942 a young Jewish woman, Léna, is interned by the Vichy authorities and risks deportation to Nazi Germany. Michel, one of the guards, offers to save her by marrying her. They escape on foot over the Alps to Italy. After the war they settle in Lyon, where Michel opens a garage and Léna has two daughters with him. At a school event she meets another mother, Madeleine, married with one son. The two women become close friends and the two husbands get along with each other, though both men are secretly jealous of the bond their wives share.

Madeleine has a brief affair with her former art teacher, for which Léna lends her flat. Unfortunately, Michel comes home at lunchtime and finds the guilty couple. This turns him against Madeleine, and Léna's friendship with her. The two women were planning to open a dress shop, which Michel says he will finance provided it is without Madeleine, who has gone off to Paris. Taking a night train to go and see her, Léna has a sexual encounter with a soldier, her first experience apart from Michel and very enjoyable. In Paris, the two women dance and get drunk in a night club and fall into bed together.

But Léna has not realised the fragility of Madeleine, who is placed in a mental hospital and then released to the care of her parents. Going to see her, Léna takes her out to show her the new dress shop. Unfortunately, Michel drops in and on seeing Madeleine there smashes the place up. Léna takes Madeleine and their children away to a rented house beside the sea, where Michel turns up trying for reconciliation. An end caption says that Madeleine died.

Bo Gillis is a guitar-playing, young man from a Southern state who becomes a candidate for governor. He is elected after his opponent's wife is revealed to have a dark secret, a fact that Bo's campaign mastermind, Sylvester Marin, makes sure becomes known to all.

Shortly before the election, Bo goes to a nightclub where he is introduced to Ada Dallas, a working girl. They share a similar upbringing, and Bo feels an immediate bond. They elope, much to the chagrin of the candidate's speechwriter Steve and the cynical Sylvester, who wants the marriage annulled.

The Gillises resist and begin life as the state's first couple. Soon the governor finds that he is little more than a stooge, blindly signing whatever document Sylvester puts before him. His childhood friend Ronnie is dismissed as lieutenant governor for speaking out. Sylvester requests help from Ada in controlling her husband, but the state's ambitious first lady demands something quite outrageous in return: to be named the new lieutenant governor.

Bo is furious. He wanted Ada to be his refuge from dirty politics, not a part of it. He continues to oppose Sylvester's methods, which leads to a bomb's being placed in the governor's car. In the hospital, Bo tells Ada that he believes her to be a conspirator in his attack and insults her, causing her to angrily leave him.

Ada is sworn in as acting governor. Quickly, though, she goes to work against Sylvester, promoting her husband's ideas for honest government. On the day of a decisive vote at the state capitol, as Bo views from the gallery, Sylvester and his henchman Yancey try to sabotage Ada's plans by revealing evidence of her past as a prostitute. Bo speaks up on his wife's behalf. Sylvester is ruined, and Bo and Ada walk away from the capitol side by side.

Melville A. "Ironpants" Goodwin (Kirk Douglas) is a much-decorated U.S. Army major general who has just been appointed chairman of the Joint Atomic International Commission by the President of the United States. This is upsetting to wealthy Dorothy "Dottie" Peale (Susan Hayward), a media mogul who wanted a close friend of her father's to get the position.

Dottie is accustomed to getting her way and decides to do something about it. She gets the Army to send General Goodwin to her estate on Long Island for a lengthy interview and photo session for one of her popular Peale Enterprises publications. Her plot is to ruin Goodwin's reputation as a squeaky-clean, red-blooded American hero. Dottie hides a tape recorder in her home, and assigns a photographer to catch Goodwin in compromising situations. Having heard rumors that he is secretly a ladies' man, she also hopes to get the general to disclose something scandalous.

Every attempt to catch Goodwin off guard or make him appear a fool fails. Drastic measures are called for, what Dottie terms "night maneuvers." She takes the general to a nightclub, tries to get him drunk, coaxing him to sing and dance in a vain attempt to humiliate him. Nothing works. A little tipsy herself, Dottie falls off a diving board of her swimming pool at home. Goodwin rescues her, leading to a night of romance.

Dottie's attitude is changed. She plans to marry Goodwin and maybe even help him become president of the United States, which would make her first lady. To her surprise, the general has no plans to continue this romance. He tells her about a love affair with a woman named Yvette to whom he revealed top-secret information during the Korean War. When he found out Yvette was an enemy spy, he had to have her shot.

A rejected Dottie goes back to her original plan to ruin him. Her magazine's story, "Blabbermouth Goodwin", results in a Senate inquiry into his behavior. Unfortunately for the general, his activity in the Yvette spy case is still top secret, and he is forbidden to discuss it.

Questioned by hostile Senator Burdick (Roland Winters) about another girl in the story, Goodwin reveals that she was not a grown woman but a 7-year-old orphan. He has explanations for everything else and demonstrates that his conduct has been exemplary at all times. Dottie feels ashamed of her role in this and confirms on the stand his assertion that the article was filled with exaggerations and lies. Yet she cannot say the same about the matter of Yvette.

Goodwin is unable to get permission to speak about Yvette through the usual channels. In desperation, he sends Colonel Homer Gooch (Jim Backus) to see the President. Finally, the spy case is declassified. The general testifies that the Army knew that Yvette was a spy. When he was informed, he decided to break off the affair, but was ordered to feed her false information in advance of an important counterattack.

Goodwin is publicly cleared of wrongdoing and recognized as a bigger hero than ever. In front of a gaggle of Washington reporters, he drags a protesting but obviously willing Dottie into a waiting car, signaling that their romance is on again.

Mary Sharron (Susan Hayward) has lost her husband to a forest fire. To help her run the ranch, she hires handyman Fred Carter (Stephen Boyd). A handsome, but taciturn man who has known much tragedy, Fred works hard for her. Robbie Sharron (Dennis Holmes), the woman's son, resents Fred, and when he learns that his mother is planning to marry him to quell ugly rumors in town, the youth is unhappy. After the wedding, the stepfather treats the boy harshly, not out of cruelty, but because he wants to prepare the boy to survive the tough life ahead. This creates friction and frustration. Sometimes Fred beats both Mary and Robbie. On the day that Mary learns she is pregnant, Robbie and Fred get into a violent fight.

Fred goes to the local saloon and ends up jailed for brawling. A month later he is released. When he gets home, he finds Mary has moved his things to the barn. A natural disaster changes the family's lives and relationships, and after much turmoil, honesty and pain gives them a chance to heal and start anew.

''Beasts'' describes a world in which genetically engineered animals are given a variety of human characteristics. Painter is a ''leo'', a combination of man and lion. Reynard, a character derived from medieval European fable, is part fox.

Political forces result in the leos being deemed an experimental failure, first resigned to reservations, and later to be hunted down and eliminated. A central element of the story is the relationship between Painter and Reynard, who acts as a kingmaker behind the scenes.

Bernadette and Bill are a bickering couple from Beverly Hills. One day, a stranger wanders onto their property and they mistake him for an exterminator. The man, who calls himself Bone, takes the couple hostage, intending to rob them.

Bone discovers that his captives are not as wealthy as they seem. Nevertheless, he forces Bill, a car dealer, to go to a bank to get some money, threatening to rape or kill Bernadette otherwise.

Bill leaves, but at the bank he is distracted by a young girl in line. She ends up seducing him as Bill contemplates how little love there has been in his marriage. He does not return home with the money, but a nearly naked Bernadette, after having too many drinks, seduces Bone on the sofa.

Bernadette then persuades Bone they should murder her husband for his insurance. Bill tries to flee, but they follow him and, at a beach, Bernadette smothers him to death in the sand. She turns to find Bone, only to discover he has disappeared.

''Darkest Hour'' is a prequel to ''Dawn''. The last book in the Cutler series goes back in time to focus on Dawn's step-grandmother, Lillian.

This book is about Grandmother Cutler's childhood and adolescence. Most of the book takes place at the Booth plantation, "The Meadows". Lillian Booth is the middle daughter of an overbearing planter known as the Captain and a delicate Southern woman who lives in a dream world of sorts. Her older sister, Emily, is devoutly religious and often hostile to Lillian; her younger sister, Eugenia, is sick with cystic fibrosis (a factual oversight on the author's part is that CF was not technically named until 1938, by Dr. Dorothy Andersen, and the book appears to be set shortly before and during the Great Depression. Lillian's family could not have known Eugenia's disease by this name). One day after school, when Lillian is just five, Emily tells her that she is not her real sister and that Lillian's real parents died because she is a Jonah and everything she touches will die. Distraught, Lillian runs to their mother, only to find out that she is actually the daughter of her mother's younger sister Violet, whose young husband was tragically killed before Lillian's birth. Violet died during childbirth and Lillian was taken in by her aunt and uncle to be brought up as their own. Emily constantly brings up the theme of Lillian being a curse throughout the book: she locks her in the shed with a skunk, and murders Cotton, Eugenia and Lillian's kitten (though she makes this look like an accident). She even claims that Lillian's first period is a sign of her evil nature, due to her young age. Emily also blames Lillian for Eugenia's death, saying that Eugenia was born after Lillian brought Satan into the Meadows and that was how Eugenia became sick in the first place. Eugenia dies from smallpox due to being weakened from cystic fibrosis, a genetic disorder that is not understood at the time that the novel takes place. Therefore, when Lillian asks for Dawn to be renamed Eugenia many years later, it may be an attempt to get back the little sister she lost so early and loved so much. Lillian's mother is traumatized by the death of her youngest child and goes into a deep depression.

With her mother lost in depression, Lillian becomes increasingly isolated at home. Although she is growing into a young woman, her father makes no preparations for her coming out party or for her impending adulthood. When Emily sees Lillian and Niles Thompson, a boy from a neighbouring plantation, coming out of the woods on the way back from school, she uses this against Lillian to make sure she is placed under a sort of 'house arrest', not to go further than the house grounds. On the night of his twin sisters' big party, Niles climbs up to Lillian's bedroom window because Lillian was forbidden to go to the party. Although they dance and kiss, Lillian sends Niles home before things go too far. She goes to sleep happy but when she wakes up, she is told that Niles was found dead on the ground by her window. Emily blames her for Niles's death and Lillian accepts this guilt. With Niles dead, she has lost her last confidante.

As the Great Depression arrives, The Meadows begins to slip into debt. Emily blames Lillian for this. Not knowing how to restore The Meadows, Captain Booth begins to drink heavily and more often, which results in him falling down the stairs and breaking his leg. He tells Lillian that she must move into his quarters and take care of him until he is well. This ends in Lillian being repeatedly raped by her father while he is drunk. Lillian becomes pregnant at the age of 14. She is in her father's office reading up on pregnancy when the Captain catches her. She reveals that she is pregnant with his child. At this point, her father makes it seem as if Niles is the father of her child and puts Lillian in the hands of Emily, who sets out to cleanse Lillian's soul of Satan. The pregnant Lillian is locked away in her room, which has been stripped of all comforts, while the Captain tells everyone that his ailing wife is the pregnant one. About a month before Lillian gives birth, her mother passes away from cancer. Not wanting Lillian to give birth prematurely, the Captain and Emily tell Lillian she is no longer allowed to see her because it upsets her mother. Lillian later finds out that her mother had been dying of stomach cancer the entire time. The death is blamed on childbirth and her mother is buried right after Lillian gives birth to a baby girl, which she names Charlotte. Lillian is told not to refer to Charlotte as her baby, as Emily and the Captain have told everyone the baby is her sister. The Captain's only regret over the whole affair is that Charlotte is a girl and not the son he always longed for.

The Meadows continues to fail as a plantation. While trying to win money, Captain Booth loses the plantation to Bill Cutler, the owner of the luxury Cutler Hotel Resort near Virginia Beach. When Bill visits the plantation to see what he has won, he becomes very taken with Lillian, despite her disdainful treatment of him. Having seen that the plantation will make him no money, he tells the Captain that instead of the Meadows, he will take Lillian. After many tears, Lillian agrees to marry a man whom she does not love or even really like, thinking that at least she can leave The Meadows behind. Although she wants to take Charlotte with her, the Captain refuses, thinking that someone may find out Lillian is really her mother, so she has to leave her baby behind. Bill and Lillian marry and she becomes the new mistress of Cutler's Cove. Determined that no man will ever control her again, she gradually becomes the brains behind the management of the hotel, though Bill remains the public face. She also becomes pregnant and has a boy, Randolph. Despite Bill's complaints that he will grow up to be a "mama's boy", Lillian takes Randolph everywhere with her, letting him play in her office while she conducts her business negotiations. She goes back to visit the Meadows only a few times, as she finds it hard to deal with how dilapidated and dingy it has become, and also to see Charlotte growing up without really knowing her. The Captain dies soon after Randolph's birth, having gambled away nearly everything in drunken attempts to get back all the money he lost. Emily never changes. Lillian sends her money for Charlotte and the upkeep of the plantation but knows that there will never be enough. Despite the fact her husband has affairs and is never half the family man he promised to be, she is satisfied that nobody will take her son from her and that she is secure as the mistress of Cutler's Cove.

When longtime professional rodeo competitor Jeff McCloud is injured by an Brahman bull that he was trying to ride, he decides to quit. He hitchhikes to his childhood home, a decrepit place now owned by Jeremiah. Though it is run down, it is the dream home for cowhand Wes Merritt and his wife Louise, who are painstakingly saving Wes's meager wages to buy the house. Wes recognizes Jeff as a once-prominent rodeo rider and introduces himself, then helps Jeff gets a job at the same ranch. Wes, who has competed in some local rodeos and wants to continue, wants Jeff to help him improve his skills.

Wes enters a local rodeo behind his wife's back. When he does well, he joins the rodeo circuit, with Jeff as his partner and trainer. Louise is against the idea, but goes along. She makes her husband promise to quit when they have saved enough for the house.

As Louise becomes acquainted with rodeo life, she becomes increasingly disenchanted. Jeff's friend Booker Davis, once a champion competitor himself, is now a crippled old man with little to show for his efforts. When Buster Burgess is gored and killed by a bull, leaving a bitter widow, Louise can no longer bear to watch her husband compete. However, Wes is seduced by his great success and the money that he is winning. He refuses to quit when they have enough for the house.

Matters come to a head when Babs invites Wes to a party that she is throwing and makes a play for him. Louise fights back by wearing her only good dress and going to the party with Jeff. She pours a drink on Babs's head before leaving. Jeff asks her if she could love another man, but she says that she is true to Wes, and Wes tells Jeff that he is tired of taking all the risks and giving Jeff half of the prize money.

Jeff returns to the rodeo despite not being in shape. He gains back Wes's respect by doing well. Then, in the bronc riding event, his foot gets stuck in the stirrup after a successful ride and he is fatally injured. Seeing this, Wes comes to his senses and quits.

The film shows a family of French Basque immigrants pioneering into the Wild West while carrying their ancestral vines. Hard drinking trail driver Lon Bennett is hired to lead them and he falls for the spirited Gabrielle Dauphin.

The first chapter, originally a short story, uses the family of one carpet-maker to describe the generations-long tradition of hair carpet-making on an unnamed world and how it was based on religious devotion to a distant, and seemingly immortal, Emperor. The next several chapters describe more of the carpet-making culture from the viewpoints of a carpet buyer, a teacher with religious doubts, another carpet maker, a traveling peddler and a tax collector. Some of them are aware of rumours that the reign of the Emperor may be at an end after tens of thousands of years. As the story expands beyond one planet, we learn that a rebellion has in fact overthrown the central government and killed the Emperor and is bringing the news to the galactic region which includes the carpet-makers---a region that seems to have been removed from all official records. The rebel leader who killed the Emperor has a secret: the rebels' success and the Emperor's death were planned by the Emperor himself, grown weary of his long life. Meanwhile, a distant space station near a black hole continues to serve as a delivery point for all the hair carpets, which come from not only one world, but more than ten thousand. In an isolated bubble of space, removed from all the other stars of the galaxy, a lone planet is, over millennia, being paved flat. Only an ancient palace remains and, within it, a captive former king kept alive by artificial means is forced to watch the destruction of his world. The rebel leaders are astonished to learn that all the hair carpets have been sent through a hidden portal to this world and now cover most of its surface. Back at the Imperial Archives, the still-loyal Archivist finally tells the ancient story: the conquered king had teased the Emperor's predecessor about being unable to grow hair on his head, so in vengeance the old Emperor had decided to cover his enemy's entire planet with the hair of his former subjects, a plan which the next Emperor had allowed to continue for 100,000 years.

Marge oversleeps, and this forces Homer to make the children's lunch for the day. He does not do a very good job, so Bart decides to scare an alternative lunch out of his friends by making up a story about a cannibal cafeteria worker named Dark Stanley, who killed all the students in the cafeteria and put them in his kids' head soup and was eventually hanged for his crimes. According to Bart, Dark Stanley's ghost haunts the site to repeat his act of murder on the current kids. At lunchtime, Bart pretends to be killed by Dark Stanley, leading all the students to run screaming into the woods while he takes their lunches. Groundskeeper Willie is sent to fetch the students back and brings seven extra kids: Cletus's children.[http://animatedtv.about.com/od/cletus/p/cletusprofile.htm Cletus' Profile @ About.com] Principal Skinner tells Superintendent Chalmers that the kids have been refused education in fear that they will lower test averages and cost the school federal funding, which Lisa overhears. To appease her, Skinner and Chalmers appoint her tutor of the children.

Her initial tutoring efforts are unsuccessful, so she decides to take the children to downtown Springfield to introduce them to culture in the outside world. However, her plans are diverted when Krusty spots the kids singing, decides to use them as a musical act for his show, and offers them a contract, which Cletus signs immediately. Lisa is worried about the way that Krusty and Cletus are exploiting the children, so she sends an e-mail to Brandine, who is currently a soldier in Iraq. She arrives by helicopter to tell Krusty that the contract Cletus signed is null and void, as he is the father of only two of the seven children. Cletus tells her that they owe Krusty $12,000, but she assures him that they can live on that, and Cletus is happy to have things back to normal.

Meanwhile, Skinner punishes Bart by having him spend five sessions with Dr. Stacey Swanson (Meg Ryan), a qualified psychiatrist. Bart is initially dismissive, but ends up developing a close bond with Swanson, who uses a Mad Libs-like game and violent video games to get him to open up about Homer's alcoholism and other matters. When his sessions end, Bart starts to miss the time he spent with her and enters into a state of depression.

A worried Marge uses the funds she had been saving up for Homer's breast reduction surgery to get her son one more session with Swanson. Bart then reveals that Homer and Marge were young and not ready for parenting when he was born, and that he acts out largely so they will focus on him instead of fighting with each other; he also adds he got the name "Dark Stanley" in part because Homer used to hit him with a Stanley-brand hammer. Happy that he got everything off his chest, Bart leaves therapy feeling good, and upon seeing that Swanson is visibly saddened when he leaves, assures her they will see each other again. Swanson goes to see her own psychiatrist (Peter Bogdanovich) where she says she cannot stop thinking about Bart. It is revealed during this discussion that Dark Stanley is in fact real, and had killed her own son: the therapist believes Swanson is projecting onto Bart, though Swanson claims she is not ready to go into that.

''Universe at War: Earth Assault'', begins in the year 2012 when an alien race known as the Hierarchy lands on Earth to strip-mine the planet. Before their landing, observatories and scientists on Earth gave warning of aliens but the human race, as a whole, is not able to organize a unified military front against the alien forces. Because the Hierarchy has vast military experience from invading and destroying other planets in the universe, the human race is not able to withstand their forces.

The Novus (a race of machines who fight the Hierarchy to avenge their fallen creators) arrive just in time to save Washington, D.C. where the U.S. military has made its last stand. They then proceed to establish bases, using guerrilla tactics to harass the Hierarchy while investigating why the Hierarchy has delayed in using their ultimate weapon "the Purifier", to utterly eradicate all life on Earth and proceed to strip mine the planet. Over the course of these missions the Novus field commander Mirabel, a cloned member of Novus' creator species, manages to befriend the human General Moore, in charge of leading what's left of the US forces after the initial Hierarchy invasion, and together they are able to launch an attack on a Hierarchy Material Conduit and use it to enable Mirabel to board one of their command ships, learning that Kamal Re'x, the overseer in charge of the Hierarchy forces on Earth has purposefully delayed the Purifier's activation in order to use it to destroy the Novus forces when they arrive on Earth before scuttling the command ship to kill Mirabel. She manages to escape from the crashing ship but is unable to warn the Novus forces before they launch an attack on the Novus command base, damaging the portal that Novus were planning to use to return to Earth and forcing the Novus leader, known only as the Founder, to sacrifice himself to prevent it from exploding and destroying what's left of the Novus forces.

With the Novus portal destroyed and their forces scattered Kamal gives the order for the Purifier to be primed for activation, however, while distracting the Novus from the Purifier, Hierarchy field commander Orlok accidentally trips an ancient alarm in the Egyptian pyramids, and the Masari, asleep beneath the Earth's oceans, begin to waken. Though the Masari mothership initially creates a signal that prevents the Purifier from being used, the Hierarchy bombard the ship from orbit and Orlok boards it to destroy the jamming signal transmitters.

Orlok, who has been questioning Kamal's intentions prepares to separate with others who follow him. Nufai, a spy working for Kamal, used to be part of a species that the Hierarchy has since eliminated. He tells Orlok that he would be happy to overthrow Kamal's regime, so Nufai is sent to secure the Purifier while Orlok tries to make an alliance with the Masari queen, but instead finds her son, Prince Zessus. The prince and his forces join Orlok as he tries to capture a communication center to contact the others who want to separate from the Hierarchy. But Kamal Re'x appears with a massive force of troops, and Orlok almost defeats him, but Nufai shows up and helps Kamal destroy Orlok, revealing that he was working for Kamal the entire time. Nufai is appointed commander and they begin to use the Purifier to destroy the Earth. Prince Zessus is captured but is freed by a soldier who managed to escape. They find more humans captured in other encampments and join forces with them.

Meanwhile, the Masari Queen is concerned about her son and the fate of the planet. The Masari are furious when they awoke only to find their enemy, the Hierarchy, present on Earth and their mothership destroyed along with the fact that their plan for humanity to become a powerful force to oppose the Hierarchy is in jeopardy. As such, the Masari have no allegiance and are prepared to destroy any and all of the other factions to reap revenge on those who destroyed their civilization and their adopted home. Then, Novus approaches the queen and offers another allegiance, which the queen accepts. The two armies then assault all the Hierarchy bases on Earth. When they arrive in South America, they find Zessus, who announces that he has befriended the humans. Finally, the combined armies of the Masari, Novus and the humans attack and destroy the Purifier. Kamal Re'x is outraged and attempts to destroy them by himself, which instantly fails.

The armies argue over what to do with him, with the humans and Novus wanting to kill him for the damage he caused to the galaxy and Earth. But the Masari queen says that death is not the answer. She then apparently gives Kamal the power of a god which he uses to destroy them all, at least in his eyes. The queen is revealed to have actually trapped Kamal inside his own mind where he visualizes someone conquering the galaxy, but is never able to accomplish it himself. He was locked in the prison of his own mind, forever. Humanity with the help of Masari and Novus rebuilding their civilization and fulfilling their destiny to oppose the Hierarchy.

The story is about a recently orphaned country girl, Annette, who moves in with her sophisticated aunt and uncle who live in the city. Most of the plot has to do with her experiences in her new high school trying to fit in with all the new kids she meets in her new community.

However, Laura, the jealous teen, wrongfully accuses Annette of stealing a necklace following a party at her place. Little did she know that the necklace accidentally fell into the piano she played on. Laura and Annette become friends after the misunderstanding.

The prologue begins with Carlo Broschi, the famous castrato Farinelli, reminiscing about his childhood as a singer in the church choir. A newly castrated boy runs in and warns Carlo that his voice will result in death, then ends himself. Carlo is traumatized and refuses to sing a composition by his older brother Riccardo for his voice teacher, Nicola Porpora. He cries and runs to his father, who comforts him, but extracts a promise that he will never refuse his voice to his brother again. The film proper opens in Madrid, Spain, at the palace of King Philip V. Riccardo Broschi (Enrico Lo Verso) demands to see his brother Carlo (Stefano Dionisi), now known by his nickname, Farinelli. Carlo refuses him.

The rest of the film is told in flashback. Eighteen years earlier, Carlo and Riccardo watched an itinerant trumpet player humiliate a young castrato. Angered, Carlo humiliates the trumpeter, to the delight of the crowd. Riccardo seduces a pretty lady in the crowd, using his brother as bait: Carlo begins to make love to her, then Riccardo steps in to complete the act. Meanwhile, George Frideric Händel (Jeroen Krabbé) has heard Farinelli sing from his carriage. He asks Carlo to come to Great Britain and perform, but Riccardo demands to be included. Handel sneers at Riccardo as a hack, humiliates Carlo as a freak, and leaves.

Several years pass, and Carlo is now famous. He impresses the Comtesse Mauer (Marianne Basler), a beautiful and rich young woman more interested in books than opera. The brothers maintain their sexual accommodation: Carlo seduces the comtesse´s maid and Riccardo consummates the sex act. Carlo receives a letter from Handel, who wants to hear Carlo sing in Dresden. Carlo suddenly falls ill with a fever during which Riccardo repeats a story he has told Carlo since he was a child: Carlo had been injured in a fall from a horse, and the castration surgery was necessary to save his life. In Dresden, Handel meets Carlo just before the curtain rises and tells him the King George II wants him to sing. Unnerved by Handel's offer, Carlo faints on stage. A self-satisfied Handel departs; Carlo waits for him in vain.

Carlo is soon invited to London by the young Alexandra Lerris (Elsa Zylberstein). Handel's Covent Garden opera house is bankrupting the nearby Opera of the Nobility, sponsored by the Prince of Wales and run by Carlo's old vocal teacher Porpora (Omero Antonutti). In London, Carlo and Riccardo meet Margareth Hunter (Caroline Cellier) and her crippled son Benedict (Renaud du Peloux de Saint Romain). Carlo proposes to her, but she refuses out of respect for her late husband. Carlo begins to realize that Riccardo's highly ornamented compositions lack true artistry; he covets Handel's operas and tries to impress him. Alexandra, who is in love with Carlo, steals some of Handel's music for Carlo to perform. The relationship between the two brothers deteriorates. Searching Riccardo's house for the stolen music, Handel confronts him and sabotages the relationship. Beguiled by Handel, Riccardo reveals (in a flashback-within-a-flashback) that Carlo was a superb singer as a child, and when their father died, the fear of losing that voice prompted him to drug Carlo and castrate him illegally, then promise to compose for him a great opera: "Orpheus."

That evening, Handel meets with Farinelli backstage. He tells Farinelli the secret of his castration and allows him to sing the stolen music. Shocked and heartbroken, Carlo sings Handel's music (the aria ''Lascia ch'io pianga'') so beautifully that Handel faints.

The flashback ends. We learn that Carlo and Alexandra fled from Riccardo to the royal court of Spain, and has not sung in public since his triumph at the Opera of the Nobility three years earlier. Carlo has never forgiven Riccardo, but Alexandra, who understands the bond between the brothers, tries to reconcile them: she steals Riccardo's "Orpheus." Carlo sees that Riccardo has finally written the promised masterpiece, but still can't forgive. Carlo sings for King Philip during a solar eclipse. As Riccardo listens to Carlo sing, he is overwhelmed by guilt and the broken relationship, and attempts suicide by slashing his wrist. After falling unconscious from blood loss, he is brought to the house Carlo and Alexandra share, where he recovers. Carlo, realizing the atonement of his brother's actions, forgives Riccardo for castrating him. Together, the brothers make love to Alexandra. Some months pass. Alexandra is now pregnant with Riccardo's child, whom Carlo and Alexandra treat as their own. The film ends as Riccardo leaves Madrid to seek his fortune as a composer, taking comfort in the fact that in leaving Carlo with a child to father, he has given his brother back his "share of humanity."

Kurumi Ayaki has recently retired from her job as a police officer but she needs money for her upcoming wedding. While she wants to return to her old job in the Traffic Department, she is instead assigned to Unsolved Crimes Division, Special Unit A to solve crimes that are deemed "unsolvable" and partnered with the genius inspector Himuro.

At the Union National Bank, the directors are concerned because they think that bank president Tom Dickson has loaned too much money to people who are bad risks during the Great Depression era, and they threaten to replace him. Dickson refuses to resign, arguing that he loans to people whom he knows are good risks, that none of them has defaulted and that loaning the money keeps it circulating preventing an even worse economic depression.

Dickson's wife Phyllis is planning a special celebration for their anniversary, but he has forgotten it and made business plans. He promises to take her out the next night but then arranges another business meeting for the same time.

Three gangsters led by Dude Finlay enter the office of chief cashier Cyril Cluett to intimidate him. He owes them $50,000 in gambling debts, and they promise not to hurt him if he helps them rob the bank that night. They advise him to arrange an alibi for midnight, when the robbery will occur. Seeing Phyllis, Cluett claims to have always been in love with her and asks to take her out that night, and with Dickson unavailable, she agrees. However, they are seen by Matt Brown, who assumes the worst about Dickson's marriage.

Cluett resets the vault's time lock before leaving to meet Phyllis. They go to a play and then to his apartment, but Brown is there waiting for them, hoping to break up the affair. Meanwhile at the bank, the gang steals $100,000, but they also murder a guard who sees them.

The next day, rumors about the amount stolen become wildly exaggerated and cause a run on the bank. Dickson tries frantically to arrange emergency money to meet the withdrawals but cannot, and the board will not help, preferring to force him out. The bank has enough resources to pay all depositors eventually, but its reputation for safety will be ruined if the depositors cannot withdraw money immediately.

Meanwhile, the police suspect Brown, who will only say that he had been at home with a married woman whom he will not name. They hear that Cluett had been seen with Dude Finlay and turn their suspicions to him. Brown is cleared but blurts out Phyllis's name in Dickson's presence. Dickson also believes the worst about his marriage. He becomes depressed and agrees to resign his job.

As the bank runs out of cash, Dickson's subordinates have an idea. They call on the people whom Dickson has helped with loans in the past to deposit all the money that they can afford. They also call Phyllis, who reassures Dickson of her love. When the board sees the loyal depositors, they rally in support of Dickson, arranging immediate deliveries of money themselves. The bank is saved and Dickson recovers his positive attitude and keeps his job.

Dickson awards Brown a promotion, and urges Brown to marry his girlfriend, Dickson's own secretary Helen. He then asks Helen to arrange a luxurious sea voyage for himself and Phyllis.

In Los Angeles, popular songwriter Steve Elliot (Red Skelton) prepares to marry Caroline Brooks (Esther Williams), who has pledged to give up her job as a college swimming instructor once she has wed. Likewise, Steve plans to quit his songwriting career, even though New York producer George Adams (Basil Rathbone) has already hired him to write new songs for a water ballet show.

When George overhears Steve discussing his "retirement" with Caroline, he vows to prevent the marriage and enlists Maria Dorango (Jacqueline Dalya), an aspiring actress posing as a Latin-American singer, to help him. Moments after a justice of the peace pronounces the redheaded Steve and Caroline man and wife, Maria rushes in, claiming that Steve is her husband and the father of her three redheaded children, which she has paraded in at that moment. Although Steve pleads his innocence, Caroline storms off in a rage and returns to her teaching post at Victoria College in New Jersey. A determined Steve and his friend, Carlos Ramírez, follow her there, but are denied entrance to the all-female school.

Later, in a New York nightclub, Steve meets drunken lawyer Chester Klazenfrantz (Donald Meek), and learns that Klazenfrantz has been hired to change the charter of Victoria College, which has never officially designated itself as all-female. Armed with this information, Steve returns to Victoria and insists on applying for admission. Unaware of Caroline's relationship to Steve, Dean Clinton (Nana Bryant) suggests to the faculty that he be admitted for a two-week probationary period, during which time they would give him 100 demerits, which would qualify him for expulsion before Parents Day.

Once enrolled, Steve tries to speak with Caroline, but she refuses to listen to his explanations and tells him she is seeking an annulment. Later, in music class, stodgy Professor Hendricks (Francis Pierlot) attempts to discredit Steve, whose presence on campus has created a furor among the co-eds, by ordering him to write his own version of the Scottish ballad ''Loch Lomond'' and teach the next day's class. With help from several talented students, Carlos, the music teaching assistant (Ethel Smith), and Steve's friend Harry James and his orchestra, Steve meets Hendricks' challenge and is awarded an "A".

That night, Steve visits Caroline at her house, but is turned out after Willis Evans (Bill Goodwin), a conservative botany professor who is in love with Caroline, arrives. When Caroline realizes that Steve is hiding in her closet, spying on her, she commands Willis' Great Dane, Duke, to guard the closet door, while reminding Steve that unless he is in his room in five minutes, he will be expelled for breaking curfew. With only seconds to spare, Steve manages to trick the dog long enough to escape back to his dingy basement room. Steve is then visited by George, who threatens to vilify him in the press unless he finishes his songs. When Steve swears deadly revenge on the person who hired Maria, however, George backs down and offers to help Steve do his homework. Concerned about the approaching Parents Day, Dean Clinton, meanwhile, commands Steve's professors, who have penalized him with only fifty-five demerits, to bear down on him. To that end, Mme. Zarka (Ann Codee), Steve's ruthlessly strict ballet teacher, forces him to wear a tutu and dance with the co-eds, but Steve once again rises to the occasion.

A now desperate Dean Clinton asks Caroline to go out with Steve and ensure that he arrives back at Victoria after the curfew. Caroline agrees, but during the evening, Steve convinces her of his innocence, and as they drive back to school, the newlyweds make plans to return to California together. Unknown to Caroline and Steve, Maria is on campus, looking to expose George, who has been trying to get rid of her, to Steve. At the same time, a campus sorority descends on Steve's room, hoping to initiate him, and Jean Allenwood (Jean Porter), another co-ed, shows up with news that her parents and Dean Clinton are on their way over to inspect his room. As Steve desperately hides all the women in two closets and keeps Caroline from discovering Maria, George unexpectedly arrives. Although Steve succeeds in hiding George and himself and fooling Dean Clinton and the Allenwoods, Maria soon makes her presence known to Caroline, who once again leaves in a fury. Later, Steve promises to write songs for George's water ballet show on condition he make Caroline the star. George agrees, and after Maria is finally able to tell Caroline the truth, Caroline happily reunites with Steve, who then gives George a thrashing.

Just before dawn in Seattle, a man drives into town and shoots a policeman on his beat, and another in a parking lot. The gunman leaves his car at a dealership and enters a luncheonette, where, now seen to be wearing a police badge, he is greeted as "Sarge". A car pulls up, and the gunman goes outside. He gives the driver a satchel containing his gun and begins to walk away, but the driver shoots him in the back with a shotgun.

At the marina where he lives on his boat, Detective Lieutenant Lon "McQ" McHugh is awoken by a phone call alerting him to the shooting of his longtime partner, Detective Sergeant Stan Boyle, and the deaths of the two police officers. He scares away a man who is attempting to steal his 1973 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am, only to immediately be shot at by someone else. Returning fire, he kills the assailant, who he recognizes as a professional hitman.

McQ goes to see Boyle at Harborview Medical Center. Boyle is unconscious and in critical condition, but McQ talks with Boyle's wife, Lois, before going to the police station. Although Captain Edward Kosterman believes the shootings are the work of counterculture militants, McQ is convinced local shipping magnate and suspected narcotics dealer Manny Santiago, who is being investigated by McQ and Boyle, is responsible.

Despite a warning from Kosterman to leave the shooting investigation to other detectives, McQ begins tailing Santiago. When he learns Boyle has died, he follows Santiago into a men's room and beats him viciously. Threatened with desk duty, McQ resigns, against the urgings of Franklyn Toms, a field deputy who works as a liaison between the city council and police department.

Continuing to investigate the case through a partnership with local private eye "Pinky" Farrell, McQ learns from Rosey and Myra, two of Boyle's informants, that Santiago has assembled a team to steal the confiscated drugs that are housed in the police department's evidence vault. He follows the drugs when they are taken by representatives from the State Attorney General's Office to be destroyed at a secret location, which, this time, is a hospital. Santiago's team, disguised as employees of the laundry service, steals the drugs, and McQ gives chase, but they get away. Kosterman forces McQ to forfeit his personal revolver, so McQ goes to a gun store and acquires a pistol and a MAC-10 submachine gun.

That night, McQ breaks into Santiago's office, but is caught. Santiago reveals the drugs his team stole turned out to be powdered sugar, the real drugs having been replaced in the evidence vault by corrupt members of the police department, and lets McQ go, though not before paying him back for the earlier beating.

Now suspecting Kosterman may have been responsible for Boyle's death, McQ revisits Boyle's informants and learns there were rumors Boyle was dirty. Then, with him inside, McQ's car is crushed between two semi-trucks. He deduces the unusual attack was intended to separate him from his car, rather than kill him, so he leaves the hospital to inspect his car at the impound lot and discovers the missing drugs hidden inside. Kosterman arrives with backup, saying there was an anonymous tip about the location of the drugs, but McQ manages to escape.

In the morning, McQ knocks on Lois' door. She says she is leaving to visit her parents, and McQ tags along. When they are near the Pacific Ocean, he tells her that he knows Boyle stashed the drugs in his car, and accuses Lois of helping Boyle's accomplice double-cross him. McQ finds the drugs in Lois' suitcase and, when a car begins to follow them, directs her to take a turnoff to the beach. He kills the other driver in the ensuing shootout and discovers the dead man is Toms.

Santiago and his men arrive in two cars, and McQ leads them on a high-speed chase down the beach, followed by a standoff that ends with everyone dead, except for McQ, thanks to his MAC-10, and Lois, who is subsequently locked up. Kosterman gives McQ back his badge and they get a drink at a bar.

''Love Com'' is a love story between a boy and a girl in Sakai, Osaka. The girl, Risa Koizumi, is tall—much taller than the average Japanese girl. The boy, Atsushi Ōtani, is —way below the height of the average Japanese boy. Because of this, the pair are called the "All Hanshin Kyojin" after a popular comedy duo that has a similar height difference. The difference in their heights is extremely exaggerated (in the opening credits of the anime, for example, the top of Ōtani's head doesn't even reach Risa's chin when it should be approximately level with her mouth.)

During summer school, a very tall student named Ryouji Suzuki (from another class) shows up and Risa immediately falls for him because he is tall. There is a girl that Atsushi likes as well, so Risa and Atsushi decide to put aside their differences and help each other get their love interests. Their efforts fail spectacularly as Suzuki and the girl whom Ōtani had a crush on - Chiharu Tanaka - end up becoming a couple. All is not lost though, since Risa and Ōtani become close friends. As they get to know each other better, Risa's feelings for Atsushi begin to blossom, and her love life gets complicated from there on.

Almost all of the characters speak in Kansai-ben.

''Animals of the Bible'' takes 31 Biblical stories of creatures who helped Biblical heroes complete their tasks and illustrates them.

''Abraham Lincoln'' story is based on the life of the 16th President of the United States, focusing on his early years and the road he took to manhood.

“Little Miss Muffet” and “Star Light, Star Bright,” come back to the memory as easily as “Roses are red, Violets are blue.” There are finger games that give illustrations of how to play as one goes: :These are mothers knives and forks :And this is mother's table. :This is mother's looking glass :And this is baby cradle. the rhyme has illustration so the reader can understand to put your hand together like a knife, and end with a cradle which helps kids and makes the book even more interesting. The setting and clothing are very different from our time today(2014) which may seem like the book is old fashioned, but it has much to show in the enjoyable pictures. Little details such as the children wearing overalls, children wearing bonnets, and just the overall color structure highlights the time frame of these rhymes. The illustrations are done in pencil and they have so much detail. The children's faces in the illustration show much feelings and expression.

At the first snowfall of the year, all the grown-ups do their usual things when a snowstorm comes, while the children are filled with wonder.

The book tells the story of Juan who lives in an adobe house which is located near Mission San Juan Capistrano. It isn't too far from the school. In fact, Juan is good friends with Julian who's an old bell ringer and a gardener that isn't sure about the swallows' migration to a peaceful island in the summer. Julian explains to Juan how this beautiful mission was founded by Saint Francis and his brothers, especially Father Junipero Serra. He also explains to the Spanish lad how unsure he is about the swallow family's migration. Juan and Julian really love the swallows AKA las golondrinas very much and doesn't want them to leave Mission San Juan Capistrano. He and his friend feed tiny pieces of bread that Julian saves in his pockets. Plenty of birds appear in the garden including hummingbirds, sparrows, white doves and especially swallows. In the spring, he plants a garden on his vacation time. There's nothing more exciting to see the family of swallows nesting in the protagonist's very own garden. One of the children tells the other the amazing journey the swallows make all the way from South America to spend the summer in California during St. Joseph's Day to watch a family of swallows migrate far away from San Juan Capistrano to a peaceful island. On Saint Joseph's Day, Juan's dream comes true which gets to the point where Juan and Julian alert everyone in the village by ringing the bells of Mission San Juan Capistrano together. The swallow family gets to nest in the arches of the mission after all before summer begins. One day, a baby swallow falls out of the nest and Juan witnesses the shock of the situation with his feathered friends. His/her parents don't reject the chick at all after Juan saved him/her. Everyone gets ready for Saint Joseph's Day by dressing up and celebrating before summer arrives in the village. Juan sings "Las Golondrinas" before he plants his own garden for the swallows to nest at during his vacation time. On Saint Joseph's Day, the children sing "The Swallow Song" together while they join Juan in the garden. Juan returns to his adobe house and observes the migration of the swallows who nested in his garden on a rose bush that appears near Mission San Juan Capistrano. They'll always come back to Mission San Juan Capistrano in the spring even though he gets to hear Julian sing the swallow song that the children also sang on Saint Joseph's Day.

Two dogs named Nap and Winkle find one bone and have difficulty deciding which of them owns it. Nap and Winkle begin to ask people who the bone belongs to. They ask a farmer, a goat, and a haircutter. A big dog takes the bone from both Nap and Winkle. After, getting the bone back from the big dog, Nap and Winkle discover that the bone belongs to both of them.

Madeline falls into the Seine River one day and is saved by a stray dog. Miss Clavel and the girls cannot find the owner of the dog, so the girls decide to keep it and name it Genevieve. But problems start to rise when the girls compete for time with Genevieve. Big trouble arrives in their animal-loathing landlord Cucuface, who takes one look at poor Genevieve and has his driver take her away The girls and Miss Clavel unsuccessfully look for Genevieve. Late that night, Miss Clavel wakes up and finds Genevieve in the light of the doorway. Everyone rejoices Genevieve's return. That night, the girls fight about Genevieve again, causing Miss Clavel to take Genevieve to her own room (but not before warning the girls if one more fight breaks out about Genevieve, she will be given away). Even later that night, Madeline and the girls, with Miss Clavel, find that Genevieve has given birth to eleven puppies.

A widower marries a haughty woman with two daughters of her own. Both the woman and the two daughters hate the man's daughter called Cinderella. Cinderella is very gentle and beautiful. However, her stepmother and sisters treat her cruelly. Cinderella is always assigned to do all the chores around the house and also sleeps in the attic. One day, it is announced that the prince is having a royal ball and invites all the ladies of quality to the ball. Cinderella wants to go to the ball but she can't because she is forced to stay home and clean the whole house. Cinderella starts crying as her stepsisters go to the ball. Her fairy godmother appears out of nowhere and asks, "Why are you crying?" Cinderella explains why she is upset. After Cinderella explains everything, her fairy godmother uses her magic power to help Cinderella. The fairy godmother transforms all the mice, lizards, and rats into horses and coachmen for the golden coach. She gives Cinderella a gown made of gold and silver and slippers made of glass. The only thing her fairy godmother asks is for Cinderella to get home by midnight when the magic will end. Entering the ball, Cinderella goes unrecognized by her stepsisters and dazzles everyone there, especially the prince. The prince pays her special attention because he has never seen her before. As Cinderella dances with the prince, she loses track of time and must leave the ball. Fleeing away from the ball and the prince, one of her glass slippers falls. The prince tries to keep up with her but he can't, so he picks up the glass slipper and vows to find her and marry the one that fits the glass slipper. As soon as Cinderella gets home, her gown turns back to rags, the horse and the coachmen turn back to animals, but the glass slipper remains as is. The next morning, the stepsisters tell her that the prince is in love with some unknown lady that was at the ball last night. Also, that the prince is going house to house to see who fits the glass slipper, and whoever fits, he will marry. As the prince arrives the stepsisters try to fit their feet into the glass slipper but it is an unsuccessful attempt. Cinderella tries the slipper and it is a perfect fit. A few days later, the prince marries the girl who fits the glass slipper as promised. Cinderella forgives her stepsisters for their past cruelty.

The story is set in old Japan. It is about is a funny little woman (who is an old woman). She likes to laugh ("Tee-he-he-he") and makes dumplings out of rice.

One day, one of her dumplings rolls down a hole. The little old woman chases the lost dumpling and ends up in a strange place underground lined with ''Jizo'' (guardian statues). The ''Jizo''s warn the old woman not to go after the dumpling because of wicked ''oni'' (monsters) who live there, but she does anyway. An ''oni'' grabs the old woman and takes her in a boat across a river to the house of the ''oni''.

The ''oni'' forces the old woman to cook rice for them. They give her a magic paddle to make a full pot of rice from a single grain. Now the old woman is enjoying to be busy serving them plenty of rice dumplings for dinner every day.

But months later, the old woman becomes homesick. One afternoon, she decided to return home. When the ''oni'' are not looking, the old woman takes the magic paddle, and escapes on a boat on the river. Soon the monsters found that the old woman was heading home. They want to stop the her. But they realize they cannot swim. So with the inability to swim or fly, they drank all the river water.

When the water bed dries up, the boat gets stuck into the mud. The old woman (who was too worried to laugh) tried to run away. But she gets stuck too in the mud. When she struggles, the ''oni'' all laugh. But when they do, they accidentally release the water from their mouths back into the river. When the water comes back again, the old woman can finish crossing to the other side in the boat.

The funny little woman returns home. She makes many rice dumplings with the magic paddle and sells them to people, and becomes "the richest woman in all of Japan."

''The Ramsay Scallop'' has two main characters, Thomas of Thornham and Elenor of Ramsay. They were betrothed to each other when they were young. When Thomas returns broken and disillusioned from the Crusades, he finds the idea of marriage and lordship overwhelming. Elenor dreads the idea of marriage to Thomas, both because she does not like him and because she is afraid of bearing children. She is afraid to bear children because her mother died giving birth to her. Father Gregory sends both of them on a religious pilgrimage to Santiago, Spain, to put the record of Ramsay's sins on the shrine of Saint James. Both of them are relieved because the pilgrimage means the delay of their marriage and a last chance for adventure. On their special pilgrimage, they meet different people, and discover the glorious possibilities of the world around them and within each other. At the end of the book both of them get married and they understand each other very well. Both of them realize that people can change and that nobody will be the same. Then they get married and never have any problems again.

Main characters

Elenor of Ramsay Thomas of Thornham Father Gregory Etienne Marthe Friar Paul Carla Guilliamette Pipeau Martinel *Jean-Loup

Category:1994 American novels Category:Novels set in the Middle Ages Category:American romance novels Category:American young adult novels Category:American historical novels Category:Historical romance novels Category:Young adult romance novels Category:Children's historical novels Category:HarperCollins books

This is a story about a family's dramatic escape from Haiti by sea which also shows the political and economic issues involved.

Paulie lives in Haiti with her Grann and her uncle, the village coffin maker who has turned his skills to boat building to escape the brutality and starvation that has taken over his homeland. Paulie and other neighbors help with the clandestine project, building the boat ''Seek Life''.

Seek life. That's what Paulie's uncle says they must do. But to seek life, safety, and freedom, Paulie and her family have to leave Haiti—the only home that Paulie has ever known. Since forever, Paulie has run in and out of the little houses nestled under the palms, smelling cocoa-bread and playing on the beach with her best friend Karyl. But now the little houses are gone, their wood used to make the boat.

Paulie wants to stay and fight—to change Haiti into a better place to live. She wants to talk to the reporters from Miami and bravely tell the truth, like Karyl's brother, Jean-Desir. But the macoutes come with their guns and knives to stop them. When Jean-Desir is murdered, Paulie must face the truth: before the soldiers come back to take the boat, they must all leave—tonight, by sea.

Category:1995 American novels Category:Novels set in Haiti Category:American young adult novels

The story focuses on a young Native American girl who has a deep affinity for wild horses. She cares for the horses that her tribe relies on for the nomadic hunting of buffalo. One day, the herd stampedes due to a thunderstorm, while the girl is among them. She climbs onto the back of one of the horses, and is carried far away from their usual grazing grounds. The next day, the girl awakes to see a beautiful spotted stallion who identifies himself as the leader of all the wild horses, and welcomes her to live with them. Meanwhile, the girl's tribe searches for her. About one year later, two hunters spot the girl riding with the horses, but she is driven away with the rest of the herd. The hunters return to the tribe with this news, and riders are sent in pursuit. The stallion defends the girl, but she is caught when her horse stumbles. The girl returns home, but is sad to leave the horses. She falls ill with no sign of improvement. The girl asks if she can return, and her parents honor her wish to live among the wild horses again. Each year, she would return to her parents with the gift of a colt. Then one year, she does not return. When the hunters see the wild horses again, they see a mare riding alongside the stallion. They believe this horse to be the girl transformed, which brings the tribe great pride to know they have one of their own riding among them.

This story begins with a nameless knight riding around the plain who has never been to battle. Despite this the Queene of Faeries sends him to fight a dragon who has been terrorizing their land. He travels with Una the princess of the land. On his way to the dragon the knight meets an old hermit on top of a hill who explains to him his English heritage and tells him his name is George. George meets the dragon lying down as if it was a hill itself. The dragon sees his sword and prepares for battle. The Dragon fells our hero twice, but each time he rises up stronger. After a hard-fought third battle George eventually emerges triumphant and slays the dragon. The king, promising Una to whomever slays the dragon, fulfills his promise and marries George and Una. Although all is well in the land George still fights other battles for the Queene of Faeries and through these battles George becomes Saint George.

Each two-page spread of the book features one of four stories. In the upper left quadrant, there is a story titled, "Seeing things". In this story, a boy is on an overnight train trip to be reunited with his parents. At one point in the journey, the train's progress is stopped and he is briefly joined by what the text refers to as an "old woman" but which the illustrations suggest might be the robber from "Udder Chaos". Looking out the window, the boy is unable to tell what has stopped the train and laughs when the driver attempts to chase away what appear to be boulders. However, to the boy's amazement, the boulders begin to move off the tracks. Later the boy falls asleep only to be awoken by the train stopping and the sound of singing. Thinking he sees snow outside, the boy opens the windows but when he sticks out his hands to catch some, the boy realizes that it's actually torn up newspaper. The boy then notices "strange creatures" standing near the train who are responsible for the torn paper and singing. When the train resumes its journey, the boy falls back asleep only to be awoken at the train station where the boy is returns to his parents.

In the lower-left quadrant, the story is titled, "Problem Parents". A brother and sister, with the sister serving as the narrator, know the routines of their parents who are predictable in their actions, such as leaving for work each day at 7 a.m. and returning home at 7 p.m. However, one night the children, and their dog, recognize that the parents are not their normal selves because they come home wearing newspaper costumes and singing ''She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain''. The children's parents then find newspapers at home and, ignoring attempts at normal conversation topics, dress the children in newspaper also. The brother joins in the fun more quickly than his sister, who unsuccessfully attempts to jolt her parents back to normal. The narrator is horrified when her brother suggests they go out to dinner dressed as they are and manages to convince the other family members to leave the costumes at home. In the end, the narrator admits the experience is fun, though she finds her parents' antics "exhausting" when they ask her about her homework as she's heading to bed.

The upper right quadrant's story is titled, "A Waiting Game", with the only text representing announcements from a loudspeaker. A number of passengers, all of whom are reading a newspaper, wait for their train at a station, which has been delayed. Eventually, the passengers finish reading their newspapers and become bored waiting for the train. One passenger, to applause, makes a triangle hat out of her newspaper causing other passengers to join in. Soon they start making newspaper shirts, bunting, and confetti. When the train arrives they throw the torn newspaper into the air. After the train leaves with the passengers, the only characters left are a robber and the station master who is cleaning up the mess from the newspapers.

The fourth story, in the lower right, is titled "Udder Chaos". While the text describes what happens if Holstein cows escape their field, the pictures illustrate the movements of a robber, dressed in black and white stripes and a black mask. At first, he hides among the cows, and then among a choir who the cows pass by, and then once again among the cows who stop the progress of a train. In the end, the robber has disappeared and the cows return home so that they can be milked.

A young man from Japan, during the Meiji era, crosses the Pacific Ocean and explores the United States. He finds that of all the places he has seen, he likes coastal California best because of the beautiful Sierra Mountains. Eventually, he returns home to Japan and marries his childhood sweetheart.

The young man takes his new bride across the sea and they settle in California, where they have a daughter. As he watches his daughter grow up, the man is filled with nostalgia for his own childhood. He eventually decides to take his family back to Japan when his daughter is nearly grown up.

The man is happy to see his old friends again, but moves from the village where he grew up to a city nearby in order to satisfy his daughter, who has spent her entire life living in a city. She eventually marries and has a son, who is the narrator of the story. The man, now the titular grandfather of the story, finds that once again he misses California.

He plans a trip to see his adopted country again with his grandson, but never gets a chance to see California again as a result of World War II. His grandson eventually grows up and follows the same journey as his grandfather, understanding his grandfather's feelings towards two places he called home.

The story starts with three pigs who decided to build a house. However, two of the three pigs love to play. The other is very responsible and hardworking. He advised the other two pigs to build a good house in case the wolf comes. The first pig, the laziest, made his house out of straw. The second pig, who is not very responsible made his house out of sticks because it was easier and faster. The third pig, who is hard-working made his house out of bricks. Therefore, the third one took longer to finish up his house and the other two made fun of him. According to Amazon Editorial Reviews, when the wolf approaches the first house and blows it in, he blows the pig right out of the story frame. Then the wolf ate the pig up. "One by one, the pigs exit the fairy tale's border and set off on an adventure of their own. Folding a page of their own story into a paper airplane, the pigs fly off to visit other storybooks, rescuing about-to-be-slain dragons and luring the cat and the fiddle out of their nursery rhyme."

''Marie Antoinette'' tells the story of two parallel lives; that of the infamous Queen of France and that of Margrid Arnaud, a poor woman. Both are the same age, and both are pretty, but that's where the similarities end. While Margrid is roaming the streets of Paris in rags, Marie Antoinette dances and flirts at the Palais-Royal. The French Revolution changes all that. Margrid Arnaud rises and Marie Antoinette falls, and when the two women eventually meet two worlds collide and the drama unfolds. The musical uses the events of the French Revolution as a spectacular backdrop to the fate of the unhappy Queen. Margrid Arnaud personifies the nemesis of the monarchy, eventually leading to the extinction of Marie Antoinette and her world.

British secret agent Harry Palmer is sent to Berlin by his superior Colonel Ross to arrange the defection of Colonel Stok, a prominent Soviet intelligence officer. Palmer is sceptical but links up with Johnny Vulkan, an old German friend and former criminal associate, who now runs the Berlin station for British intelligence.

Palmer makes a rendezvous with Stok in the Soviet zone of the divided city, finding him eccentric and likeable. Stok asks for the defection to be managed by Otto Kreutzmann, a West German criminal who has organised a number of recent escapes. When Palmer returns to the western sector he meets Samantha Steel, a model. He spends the night with her, but is suspicious of her forward manner. The next day he has his police contacts establish her identity and arranges for a criminal to burgle her apartment, where several different false passports are discovered.

Meanwhile, Palmer arranges a deal with Kreutzmann to bring Stok across the wall in return for £20,000 and a set of genuine documents meeting certain specifications. Palmer then returns to London to report. Ross is convinced that Stok's defection is genuine and dismisses Palmer's suspicions that Samantha Steel was a spy. Ross gives full authorisation for Palmer to return to Berlin to complete the deal; a man at Intelligence headquarters named Hallam provides the money and the documents, which are in the name of Paul Louis Broum.

The plan devised by Kreutzmann is to arrange a burial and bring the Colonel across the border in a coffin. When Palmer again meets Samantha, she admits that she is a Mossad spy and that she is in Berlin to hunt down Paul Louis Broum – a war criminal, now operating under an alias, who stole millions of pounds of gold during the Second World War.

Kreutzmann goes over to the East to supervise the important defection personally. Palmer waits with Kreutzmann's henchman on the western side of the border, where the coffin is delivered to an abandoned warehouse. When it is opened, however, Palmer finds Kreutzmann's dead body. Vulkan suddenly knocks Palmer unconscious and takes the Broum documents, but they are stolen in turn by Samantha and two other Israeli agents.

When Palmer informs Colonel Ross about the Broum documents, he is told that towards the end of the war, Broum murdered a resistance fighter called Johnny Vulkan at a concentration camp and assumed his identity. Ross got hold of the documents and used them to blackmail Broum into working for him. He now orders Palmer to kill Broum, but Palmer allows him to get away instead. Palmer later meets Stok, who is in West Berlin for a routine meeting with his Western counterparts. The Russian confirms that his supposed defection was just a trap to get rid of Kreutzmann. He even jokes that if Palmer ever wishes to defect to the East, he should ask Vulkan, who "knows the way".

Meanwhile, the supposed Vulkan goes to Samantha's flat, murders an Israeli agent, and gets the documents back; Palmer is blamed for this. Broum meets with Hallam, who realises Palmer had substituted forgeries for the documents. Hallam goes to Palmer, claiming he was sent by Ross to get the real documents back. Palmer forces him to admit that he is in league with Broum to get them out of London and that they now intend to use them in order to claim the Nazi loot that Broum deposited in a Swiss bank.

Palmer makes Hallam go with him to a quiet part of the Berlin wall through which Broum and Hallam intend to slip into the East, but Broum kills Hallam and is subsequently mistaken for Palmer and killed by Israeli agents. Palmer then gives the Israelis the documents.

Back in London, Ross is satisfied that the dead "Vulkan" will be taken for another martyr shot while escaping to the West. Offered a bonus for his work, Palmer refuses and leaves.

Two 12-year-old girls, Charlotte "Charlie" Palfy from Berlin and Louise Kröger from Hamburg, meet on a train going to a language school in Scotland. They are shocked to see how much they look alike. They soon find out they are identical twins. Shortly after their birth, their parents split up, and each of them took one girl. Neither girl knew she had a twin sister, and they both believed their other parent was dead. Though they look alike, they are very different in personality. Charlie, as the daughter of a music hall composer, is cool, self-confident, and somewhat impolite, dresses accordingly, and listens to techno music. Louise, who grew up with her mother, who works in advertising, wears conservative clothing and is rather shy and quiet.

The two girls concoct a plan to find out why they were separated by their parents. Charlie travels to their mother in Hamburg, pretending to be Louise, who in turn pretends to be Charlie and travels to their father in Berlin. Much chaos ensues as both girls try to settle into their new lives without anyone noticing the difference. The girls' situation gets even more difficult when they realise both parents have new partners, whom they intend to marry.

In the end, Charlie and Louise can think of no other way than to run away to get their parents back together. They travel to Scotland and hide in an old lighthouse, from where they are rescued by their parents.

Back in Hamburg, the father agrees that both girls can stay with their mother. He gets on the train back to Berlin, but before the train has pulled out of the station, he finds a note by Charlie in his pocket saying "''Es gibt Momente im Leben, da muss man die Notbremse ziehen''" ("There are moments in life in which you've got to pull the emergency brake" - Note: In German, the expression "''die Notbremse ziehen''" can also mean "to pull out of a situation before it's too late"). He pulls the emergency brake, leaves the train, and decides to stay with his family after all.

Gerald Nately is a young writer who writes a short story about his friend's wife, Mrs. Leighton (no first names for the couple are given). Mrs. Leighton is an enormously obese woman, so Gerald calls his short story "The Hog." Mrs. Leighton finds the story and mocks it, saying that she was too big for him to write about her, so he shoves the nozzle of an air compressor into her mouth and overinflates her, causing her to explode. Her remains are buried under the tool shed, and Gerald flees to the Near East after retitling his story "the Blue Air Compressor." Gerald's crime is never discovered, and eventually he cuts off his own head with a guillotine (after writing several dark and misunderstood novels, essays, short stories and poems).

Following the conflict between two princes of kingdom of Vallon, Lock and Delphus, who fight over their father's throne and culminated to the latter's defeat in a single combat 300 years prior to the present, the land had since split into two rivaling nations; Lockland and Delphi. At the eve of Lockland's destruction, the desperate Locklander king turns to his chief sorcerer Armand (Larry Drake) for help after his castle is besieged and his som and crown prince got killed in the ensuing struggle against the counsel of Amelia (Amber Benson), the prince's brother. With aid of a portion of the king's blood as well as his own, Armand brings a stone statue of a gryphon, a flying beast that is the totem of Lockland, to life against the invaders. As Amelia feared, shortly after the invading army has been dealt with, Armand wasted no time to turn against his king and the rest of the Locklanders in a coup with the gryphon on his side. Although the blood binding Armand established between him and the gryphon allows him to control it and renders it unkillable through conventional means, their connection resulted the sorcerer to feel the beast's pain.

Princess Amelia escapes during the takeover and pursues the retreating Locklanders, led the Delphite prince Seth (Jonathan LaPaglia), who had been in the vanguard of the besieging forces. Having inherited the gift of magical visions from his parents, the prince is advised by his mother Cassandra (Sarah Douglas), a sorceress, to seek an artifact called the Draconian Pike, the only weapon that can kill the gryphon. His mother warns him that he must retrieve the two halves of the pike and reassemble it to kill the gryphon before a solar eclipse occurs in two weeks, or Armand will be able to enact a ritual that makes himself and the beast immortal.

Amelia and her retinue capture Seth and his man-at-arms, David (Andrew Pleavin), during a night raid on their camp in a location called The Valley of the Dead. They locate the haft of the Draconian Pike in a centuries-old temple. Fending off an attack by the gryphon by means of "dragon's fire" (apparently black powder or an explosive variant of Greek fire), they escape and move on to seeking the blade. Meanwhile, Armand attempts to foment mistrust between the two rival nations by killing a Locklander messenger and sending his body to Amelia's father, a threat against her life magically scored into his chest. The king of Lockland calls for his armor and mounts a counter-invasion of Delphi. Meanwhile, Amelia confronts Seth at knife-point in his tent, demanding that he tell her where the blade is, but she lets her guard down momentarily and he takes advantage, seizing the knife; they fall into an amorous embrace. That same night, Armand sends his two magic-wielding brides, Daphne and Kyra, to seduce one of the Locklander soldiers into stealing the haft piece from Amelia and Seth. When Seth and Amelia find it gone the next morning, they decide to send messengers to their respective parents to muster the combined armies of Lockland and Delphi. Amelia and her remaining knights attack Armand's lair, while Seth and his retainer David enter a magically-warded labyrinth to retrieve the blade.

The two kings call a truce and their armies prepare for a massed assault, while the gryphon prepares to destroy them. Queen Cassandra of Delphi bids her husband farewell and rides into the deserted stronghold of the enemy. Once Seth retrieves the blade, he rushes to the sorcerer's lair to confront him, but finds his path blocked by the sorcerer's brides. Cassandra tells her son to leave the sorceresses to her and go to dispatch the gryphon, sacrificing herself in a magical strike against them. Meanwhile, Armand has captured Amelia and killed the Locklander knight champion, and demands that she become his bride. Seth and David arrive and fight with the sorcerer, but soon loses the blade of the Draconian Pike. Assembling the pike, Armand kills David and prepares to kill the Delphite Prince, but is persuaded to spare him by the surrender of Amelia. As the eclipse begins, Armand proclaims that he will soon become an immortal and that his progeny with Amelia will be the new Titans. As he walks away from the defeated Delphite Prince, his hand touches Amelia's belly and he realizes that she is already pregnant with the prince's child. Furious, he rejects her and prepares to kill them both. A struggle ensues and Armand again knocks the prince to his knees, but is unable to deliver the ''coup de grace'' because the Delphite queen's spirit still protects her son. The sorcerer calls the gryphon down on the prince, to whom the princess tosses the Draconian Pike. It appears as if Seth is charging for the sorcerer, but instead hops onto a rock and turns just in time to level the pike at the stooping gryphon, impaling it. The gryphon reverts to stone and shatters as it falls to the ground, while the sorcerer dissolves into a pool of blood.

The armies of Lockland and Delphi rejoice at their deliverance, cheering as Amelia and Seth raise the reassembled Draconian Pike overhead to symbolize the reunion of the sundered kingdoms of Vallon. In a voice over, Amelia proclaims that the curse of civil war has been lifted.

The story begins a year after the conclusion of the previous book, Tarzan (Lord Greystoke) and Jane have had a son, whom they have named Jack. Tarzan has spent much time building an estate home on the Waziri lands in Uziri, Africa, but has returned to his ancestral estate in London for the rainy season.

Tarzan's adversaries from the previous novel, Nikolas Rokoff and Alexis Paulvitch, escape prison and kidnap the Greystoke heir. Their trap is elaborate and insidious, leading both Tarzan and Jane to be kidnapped as well. Rokoff exiles Tarzan on a jungle island, informing him that Jack will be left with a cannibal tribe to be raised as one of their own, while Jane's fate is to be left to his imagination.

Using his jungle skill and primal intelligence, Tarzan wins the help of Sheeta, the vicious panther, a tribe of great apes led by the intelligent Akut, and a native warrior, Mugambi. With their aid, Tarzan reaches the mainland and begins a lengthy pursuit to find Jane (who is actively engineering her own extrication) and Jack.

By the end of the story Rokoff is dead, while Paulvitch, his cohort, is presumed dead but manages to escape into the jungle. The Tarzan family returns to London along with Mugambi, who is offered a place at Tarzan's Waziri estate.

Barney and his friends take the stage to delight and entertain everyone at Radio City Music Hall. They all work together to make a special surprise for the audience using items from "The Barney Bag". But before they are able to share it, a new visitor, The Winkster, steals the bag and runs away with it. Throughout the show, the gang tries to catch The Winkster and teach him that it is important to have friends and to share. Also, the chase takes everyone to "Barney's Imagination Circus" with fun-loving clowns and some dancing bears.

In this novel, for the first and only time in the Tarzan series, the main character is not Tarzan himself but his son Jack, who becomes known as Korak, first introduced (as a baby) in the earlier novels ''The Eternal Lover'' (1914/15) and ''The Beasts of Tarzan'' (1914). Korak would return as a supporting character in the later novels ''Tarzan the Terrible'' (1921), ''Tarzan and the Golden Lion'' (1922/23) and ''Tarzan and the Ant Men'' (1924).

The story begins 10 years after the conclusion of ''The Beasts of Tarzan''. During the past decade, Alexis Paulvitch, who had escaped Tarzan at the end of the last novel, has lived a hideous life of abuse and disease among tribal people in Africa. Now he is discovered by a European ship and taken aboard. In the months that follows, Paulvitch encounters the ape, Akut, (whom Tarzan had befriended in that previous story) at one of the ship's stops. Because of Akut's interactions with Tarzan, he is unafraid of white men, and Paulvitch, unaware of the previous relationship, sees an opportunity to make some money. He takes Akut to London and begins displaying him publicly.

After the trauma of the kidnappings ten years earlier, Jane has refused to return to Africa or to allow Jack to know anything about his father's past for fear that he might somehow try to relive it. Perhaps she instinctively knew that Jack was somehow very connected to Tarzan's old life, for Jack did have an avid interest in wildlife and he was extremely athletic. When the Claytons hear about the displayed ape, they forbid Jack from going to see it. But he sneaks off and does so anyway. John Clayton follows his son and is surprised to find the ape is his old friend, Akut, and begins conversing with him. Jack is amazed to see that his father could do so. John then tells Jack of his life as Tarzan.

Jack continues sneaking away to see Akut and begins to learn the language of the apes. Jack forms a plan to take Akut back to the jungle. Paulvitch, seeing an opportunity for revenge against Tarzan, agrees to help Jack. They escape to an African port where Paulvitch attacks Jack. Akut kills Paulvitch, and Jack, terrified, escapes into the jungle with him, thinking he will have to run for the rest of his life.

Like Tarzan before him, Jack learns survival in the jungle and encounters the Mangani apes, whom he can speak with because of his dialogue with Akut. Akut has difficulty pronouncing the name "Jack" and names him Korak, which means "killer" which seems appropriate since Jack has proven himself to be such.

Jack finds an abused girl of about 11 named Meriem and rescues her. He begins teaching her to survive the jungle and they begin a sibling type relationship and live adventurously in the jungle for several years.

In the interim, Tarzan and Jane have begun living at their Waziri estate in Africa again, not having any idea what became of their son. After about six years, Tarzan and Jane reunite with Korak (now about 18) and Meriem (now 16) and return to London where Korak and Meriem are married.

Tarzan returns to Opar, the source of the gold where a lost colony of fabled Atlantis is located, in order to make good on some financial reverses he has recently suffered. While Atlantis itself sank beneath the waves thousands of years ago, the workers of Opar continued to mine all of the gold, which means there is a rather huge stockpile but which is now lost to the memory of the Oparians and only Tarzan knows its secret location.

A greedy, outlawed Belgian army officer, Albert Werper, in the employ of a criminal Arab, secretly follows Tarzan to Opar. There, Tarzan loses his memory after being struck on the head by a falling rock in the treasure room during an earthquake. On encountering La, the high priestess who is the servant of the Flaming God of Opar, and who is also very beautiful, Tarzan once again rejects her love which enrages her and she tries to have him killed; she had fallen in love with the apeman during their first encounter and La and her high priests are not going to allow Tarzan to escape their sacrificial knives this time.

In the meanwhile, Jane has been kidnapped by the Arab and wonders what is keeping her husband from once again coming to her rescue. A now amnesiac Tarzan and Werper escape from Opar, bearing away the sacrificial knife of Opar which La and some retainers set out to recover. There is intrigue and counter intrigue the rest of the way.

Two months have passed since the conclusion of the previous novel ''Tarzan the Untamed'' in which Tarzan spent many months wandering about Africa wreaking vengeance upon those who he believed brutally murdered Jane. At the end of that novel, Tarzan learns that her death was a ruse and that she had not been killed at all.

In attempting to track Jane, Tarzan has come to a hidden valley called Pal-ul-don filled with dinosaurs, notably the savage Gryfs which are Triceratops that are omnivorous and stand 20 feet tall at the shoulder, have claws on their front legs, and Stegosaurus-like plates on its back. The lost valley is also home to two different adversarial races of tailed human-looking creatures: the hairless and white-skinned, city-dwelling Ho-don and the hairy and black-skinned, hill-dwelling Waz-don. Tarzan befriends a Ho-don warrior and the Waz-don chief actuating some uncustomary relations. In this new world, Tarzan becomes a captive where he impresses his captors with his accomplishments and skills that they name him "Tarzan-Jad-Guru" (Tarzan the Terrible).

Jane is also being held captive in Pal-ul-don, having been brought there by her German captor. She becomes a centerpiece in a religious power struggle, until she escapes. Her German captor becomes dependent on her due to his own lack of jungle survival skills.

With the aid of his native allies, Tarzan continues to pursue his beloved, going through an extended series of fights and escapes to do so. In the end, success seems beyond even his ability to achieve until in the final chapter he and Jane are saved by their son Korak, who has been searching for Tarzan just as Tarzan has been searching for Jane.

The story picks up with the Clayton family: Tarzan, Jane Porter and their son Korak, returning from their adventures in the previous novel (#8). Along the way, they find an orphaned lion cub, which Tarzan takes home and trains.

Flora Hawkes, a previous housemaid of the Claytons, has overheard of Tarzan's discovery of the treasure chamber in the lost city of Opar (from ''The Return of Tarzan'' and ''Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar'') and has managed to copy his map to it. She concocts a plan to lead an expedition to collect the gold. As a contingency to discourage any local denizens from questioning them, she seeks out and finds a Tarzan look-alike named Esteban Miranda to accompany them.

Two years pass since the Clayton family adopted their lion cub, making the year around 1935 and Tarzan is about 47 years old. His Greystoke estate has become so financially depleted due to his support of the Allies war efforts, and he concludes it was time to return to Opar for another withdrawal.

Tarzan encounters Hawkes' party, where he is drugged and ends up in the hands of the Oparians. Queen La, who has come into disfavor with the high priest, feels she has nothing to lose by escaping with Tarzan through the only unguarded route — a path to the legendary valley of diamonds, from which no one has ever returned. There, Tarzan finds a race of humans who are little better than animals in intelligence, being enslaved by a race of intelligent gorillas. With the help of his golden lion Jad-bal-ja, Tarzan uses the natives to restore La to power. Before leaving, he accepts a bag of diamonds as a reward.

Meanwhile, Esteban Miranda convinces Tarzan's Waziri party to take the gold from Hawkes' party while most of them are out hunting. He then buries the gold so he can retain it later. The real Tarzan eventually confronts the imposter, who still manages to pilfer Tarzan's bag of diamonds. Miranda is then chased by Jad-bal-ja, but he escapes into a river, before finding himself later captured and permanently imprisoned by a local tribe. Tarzan loses the diamonds, but he's still able to attain the gold and return with it.

Tarzan finds an outpost of European knights and crusaders from a "forbidden valley" hidden in the mountains, whose ancestors had gone astray en route to the Holy Land and ended up in the depth of Africa. The 20th century ones still maintain a Medieval European way of life, having split into two mutually-hostile factions. Tarzan's lion ally Jad-bal-ja puts in an appearance late in the book.

Erich von Harben, a young German specialized in archaeology and dead languages, with a passion for mountain climbing starts investigating the legend of The Lost Tribe of the Wiramwazi Mountains and disappears. His father meets and asks Tarzan for help.

Tarzan in his search for Erich von Harben finds a lost remnant of the Roman Empire hidden in the mountains of Africa. They are inhabitants of two rival cities Castra Sanguinarius, ruled by Sublatus Imperator, and Castrum Mare, ruled by Validus Augustus.

Erich von Harben was captured and brought to Castrum Mare, where he meets Mallius Lepus, who takes him to his uncle, Septimus Favonius, introducing him as a barbarian from Germany. Erich von Harben falls in love with Favonia, the daughter of Septimus Favonius and makes an enemy of Fulvus Fupus.

Tarzan reaches Castra Sanguinarius, the city being ruled by Sublatus Imperator. Trying to get information about von Harben, Tarzan makes an enemy of the Emperor and his son Fastus. Protecting Dilecta, the daughter of Dion Splendidus, from Fastus he makes a friend out of Maximus Praeclarus, the young patrician officer who brought him to Castra Sanguinarius. Maximus hides him in his house.

Betrayed by a servant, Tarzan and Maximus Praeclarus are captured and chained in the dungeons beneath the Colosseum of Castra Sanguinarius. Here he meets Cassius Hasta, the nephew of Validus Augustus. They fight as gladiators against man and beast and win in the end. Still the emperor does not grant them their freedom. With help of Appius Applosus, a friend of Maximus they escape and lead a revolution against Sublatus with help of the slaves from the nearby villages and the Waziri, brought by Nkima. Once Sublatus is defeated, Tarzan installs Dion Splendidus as Emperor and leaves for Castrum Mare to find Erich and support Cassius Hasta in ascending to the Throne.

In the meantime Erich von Harben and Mallius Lepus were taken prisoners due to the intrigues of Fulvus Fupus. They were brought to the arena as participants to the games. Just before the games start, Gabula, a companion black slave of Erich slays Sublatus in his imperial loge and in the confusion Erich and Mallius escape and take refuge in a deserted house near the Colosseum. Favonia, abducted by few thieves is brought by chance to the same location where Erich and Mallius free her.

Cassius Hasta returns to Castrum Mare together with Tarzan and the Waziri and encounters no resistance, since without Sublatus, Cassius is the rightful ruler. Tarzan finishes this quest by meeting Erich von Harben.

This novel is notable for the introduction of Nkima, who serves as Tarzan's monkey companion in it and a number of later Tarzan stories. It also reintroduces Muviro, first seen in ''Tarzan and the Golden Lion'', as sub-chief of Tarzan's Waziri warriors.

In response to a radio plea from Abner Perry, a scientist who, with his friend David Innes, has discovered the interior world of Pellucidar at the Earth's core, Jason Gridley launches an expedition to rescue Innes from the Korsars (corsairs), the scourge of the internal seas. He enlists Tarzan, and a fabulous airship is constructed to penetrate Pellucidar via the natural polar opening connecting the outer and inner worlds. The airship is crewed primarily by Germans, with Tarzan's Waziri warriors under their chief Muviro also along for the expedition.

In Pellucidar Tarzan and Gridley are each separated from the main force of the expedition and must struggle for survival against the prehistoric creatures and peoples of the inner world. Gridley wins the love of the native cave-woman Jana, the Red Flower of Zoram. Eventually everyone is reunited, and the party succeeds in rescuing Innes.

As Tarzan and the others prepare to return home, Gridley decides to stay to search for Frederich Wilhelm Eric von Mendeldorf and von Horst, one last member of the expedition who remains lost (The missing von Horst's adventures are told in a sequel, ''Back to the Stone Age'', which does not involve either Gridley or Tarzan).

Tarzan, his monkey friend Nkima, and Chief Muviro and his faithful Waziri warriors prevent Soviet communists from looting the lost city of Opar. The story also prominently features Tarzan's lion ally Jad-bal-ja.

This book marks the last appearance of Opar and La in the Tarzan series, aside from the juvenile piece ''Tarzan and the Tarzan Twins with Jad-Bal-Ja the Golden Lion'' (1936), which was published later but is chronologically earlier.

Backed by Chief Muviro and his faithful Waziri warriors, Tarzan faces Soviet agents seeking revenge and a lost tribe descended from early Christians practicing a bizarre and debased version of the religion.

After encountering and befriending Valthor, a warrior of the lost city of Athne (whom he rescues from a group of bandits known as ''shiftas''), the City of Ivory and capital of the land of Thenar, Tarzan is captured by the insane yet beautiful queen Nemone of its hereditary enemy, Cathne, the City of Gold, capital of the land of Onthar. This novel is perhaps best known for two scenes; in the first, Tarzan is forced to fight Cathne's strongest man Phobeg in its arena. While an ordinary man might have been in trouble, Tarzan easily overpowers Phobeg.

The second scene, in which Tarzan is forced to fight a lion, starts with the ape man being forced to run away from a hunting lion, Belthar, which will hunt him down and kill him. Tarzan at first believes he can outrun the beast (lions tire after the first 100 yards at top speed). This lion, however, is of a breed specifically selected for endurance, and ultimately Tarzan must turn to face him, though aware that without a knife he can do little but delay the inevitable. His own lion ally, Jad-bal-ja, whom he had raised from a cub, arrives and intervenes, killing Belthar and saving Tarzan. Nemone, who believes her life is linked to that of her pet, kills herself when it dies.

Unusually for lost cities in Burroughs' Tarzan series, which are typically visited but once, Cathne and Athne reappear in a later Tarzan adventure, ''Tarzan the Magnificent''. (The only other lost city that Tarzan visits more than once is Opar, which appears in four novels and is referenced in a juvenile story).

Tarzan and his lion companion Jad-bal-ja discover a mad scientist with a city of talking gorillas. To create additional havoc, a Hollywood film crew sets out to shoot a Tarzan movie in Africa and brings along an actor who is an exact double of the apeman, but is his opposite in courage and determination.

Later, as ''John Clayton'', Tarzan visits Hollywood to find himself in a screen test for a role in a Tarzan movie. He is deemed unsuitable for the lead role because he is "not the type."

An amnesiac Tarzan and his monkey companion Nkima are taken by an African warrior to be his guardian spirits, and as such come into conflict with the murderous secret society of the Leopard Men, led by Gato Mgungu.

From America, a young woman arrives in the territory in search of a loved one presumed missing, and two young men (also from that country) come in search of ivory.

Tarzan's wife Jane (her first appearance since ''Tarzan and the Ant Men'' and also her last as a major character in the series), becomes involved in a search for a bloodthirsty lost tribe reputed to possess an immortality drug. Also drawn in are Tarzan and his monkey companion, little Nkima, and Chief Muviro and his faithful Waziri warriors, who are searching for Muviro's lost daughter Buira. Nkima's vital contribution to the adventure is recognized when he is made a recipient of the immortality treatment along with the human protagonists at the end of the novel.

At Randolph Field, Texas, Master Sergeant "Big Mike" Stone (Wallace Beery) has aspirations for his son, "Little Mike" (Robert Young) to follow in his footsteps as an aviator. Following graduation from West Point, Little Mike, along with his best friend, Phil Carter (Russell Hardie), enter pilot training at Randolph Field, commanded by Phil's father, General Carter (Lewis Stone), but complications soon arise.

Little Mike has a childhood sweetheart, Phil's sister, "Skip" (Maureen O'Sullivan) but is also being pursued by divorcee Dare Marshall (Rosalind Russell). Returning from a late date with Dare the next morning, Little Mike's car causes Phil to crash during his solo flight, which ends with Phil losing a leg. Seeing what may happen after a crash, General Carter orders all the flying cadets into the air so they won't lose their nerve. Little Mike, blaming himself for his friend's accident, loses control during a flight check while landing in a cross-wind, destroying his landing gear and causing another aircraft flown by his friend "Jasky" Jaskarelli (Robert Taylor) to crash in flames. Big Mike takes to the sky to bring his son back safely but strikes him when Little Mike breaks down in hysterics. Big Mike is court-martialed and dishonorably discharged from the service.

Having lost his nerve and planning to resign from the army, Little Mike comes upon his father, now a drunk and toiling as a mechanic. Trying to help his son once again, Big Mike takes his place on a flare dropping mission flying his own aircraft, a beat up old war surplus airplane. The plane breaks up under the stress of a diving maneuver. Big Mike crashes into the water, and his son comes to his aid in a daring underwater rescue and proves his mettle. The Secretary of War recognizes both men's valor, reinstates Big Mike to his former rank, and allows Little Mike to graduate. Dare disapproves of Little Mike staying in the army, but he rejects her, realizing that Skip is his true love.

A young man named Brian Gregory has disappeared in Africa, looking for the fabled Father of Diamonds; his father and sister want to go rescue him, and they can only enlist Tarzan's help because they know Captain Paul D`Arnot. By chance, Tarzan and Brian are lookalike, thus making some vile scoundrels to think Tarzan is Brian. They are also heading out after the big old diamond.
The Forbidden city is again in a secret valley, with two cities Ashair and Thobos in war, because of the Father of Diamonds. Tarzan has to fight many times against different foes, once even a mansize unicorn seahorse!

Tarzan encounters a lost race with uncanny mental powers, after which he revisits the lost cities of Cathne and Athne, previously encountered in the earlier novel ''Tarzan and the City of Gold''. As usual, he is backed up by Chief Muviro and his faithful Waziri warriors.

While serving in the R.A.F. under his civilian name of John Clayton, Tarzan is shot down over the island of Sumatra in the Japanese-occupied Dutch East Indies. He uses his jungle survival skills to save his comrades-in-arms, and they fight the Japanese while seeking escape from enemy territory.

Tarzan also reveals to his companions how in his youth, after saving the life of a witch doctor, he was rewarded by treatment that gave him perpetual youth. His companions ask if he is also immortal and he says no. According to ''Tarzan Alive'', Philip José Farmer's study of the ape man's life and career, the incident related occurred in January 1912.

Tarzan tracks down a man who has been mistaken for him. The man is under the delusion that ''he'' is Tarzan, and he is living in a lost city inhabited by people descended from early Portuguese explorers. The plot devices of a lost city and a Tarzan "double" or impostor had been used by Burroughs in some previous Tarzan novels.

In Germany, American convict Laura (Karen Morley) is released from prison because she is pregnant. Before leaving, she assures her boyfriend and fellow American convict Nicky (Ricardo Cortez), who does not know of her pregnancy, that they will reunite when he gets out. In another scene, the German wrestler Polakai (Wallace Beery) has just won another bout in a string of victories on his way to a national championship, but he works for income at a local beer hall, hoisting large beer barrels on his shoulders to both entertain and serve the customers.

Laura arrives and orders a large meal but is unable to pay. When Mr. Herman, the beer hall's owner (Jean Hersholt), is about to call the police, Polakai offers to pay for the meal himself. Later that evening with nowhere to go, Laura accepts Polakai's offer to stay in his small apartment, which is also owned by Herman and his wife (Greta Meyer). The stay turns out to be a lengthy one. It is implied that Polakai and Laura sleep together, but even though he proposes to her several times, she turns him down. Though she is touched by Polakai's simple but generous nature, Laura is still in love with Nick. When Polakai catches her stealing his money to obtain Nick's release, Laura confesses but claims that Nick is her brother. Once again, the gullible wrestler comes to her aid.

Nick arrives and plays along with the ruse that he's Laura's brother. When he learns that Laura is pregnant, though, he takes money that Polakai has given him and immediately heads back to America. With Nick gone, Laura finally assents to Polakai's proposal and reveals her pregnancy, leaving him to believe that he will be the father. On the night that the child is born, Polakai wins the German wrestling championship. Laura still pines for Nick despite his having left her, but Polakai thinks that she's homesick for America. The Hermans have already emigrated to the U.S., and Polakai decides that he and Laura should follow them, hoping that he can win a world wrestling championship there.

In America, Polakai and Laura are reunited with Nick, whom Laura has forgiven and who offers to be Polakai's manager, although he is actually in league with Willard (John Miljan), a crooked promoter. As Polakai learns how his matches are being rigged, he begins to drink. Laura tries to sober him up and get him to win his championship match, which is he supposed to lose, but Nick begins to beat her. Polakai, coming to, strangles Nick. He goes on to the wrestling match anyway, which he wins, only to be arrested. In the aftermath, the district attorney seems willing to go light on Polakai, and Laura promises to go away so that she will not hurt him anymore. Polakai, however, holds her hand.

The film opens during a foot washing ceremony in a Christian church where a man named Francisco sees an attractive young woman from across the room. They have seen each other many times before, and she seems reluctant to engage him. She leaves the church and escapes Francisco, despite his attempt to chase after her. Another day, Francisco finds her again in the church. He works up the courage to speak with her, but she seems uninterested, and insists that they can never speak to each other again. Francisco follows her to a restaurant and sees her meeting with Raul, a close friend of his.

Francisco later meets with Raul, who divulges that he and the young lady, Gloria, are engaged to be married. Francisco conspires to woo Gloria away from Raul by throwing a party and arranging for the couple to attend. When Gloria finds out that Francisco is the host, she seems wary of this ruse, but ultimately falls for his charm and social standing.

The film jumps to the future, where Gloria and Francisco are married, and have been for quite some time. One day, Raul is driving through the city and finds Gloria. As she tells the story to Raul, the film enters a flashback where the first weeks of Gloria and Francisco's marriage are reconstructed. In the flashback, Gloria tells Raul of how horrible her marriage is, because Francisco has turned out to be a jealous, paranoid husband whose socially upright, just appearance falls apart behind closed doors.

Throughout the film, Francisco is in the midst of a lawsuit regarding his property holdings, which causes him considerable duress. For her part, Gloria is frustrated, saddened and ultimately frightened by her husband's treatment. She believes she has always acted innocently and is genuinely surprised by Francisco's accusations, but no one will take her side. Gloria's mother believes Francisco to be a decent man (he is portrayed as an upstanding member of the community), and even their Pastor (Father Velasco) admonishes Gloria for her untoward behavior with other men, and vouches for her husband (while revealing, to Gloria's astonishment, that Francisco had maintained his virginity up until their marriage). After Francisco finds out that she confessed everything to Father Velasco, he shoots her with a revolver loaded with blanks in order to "teach her a lesson." But Gloria tells Raul that Francisco became more caring and forgiving after this episode.

Relations between husband and wife become better for a time, but Francisco's suave veneer continues to fray when he asks Gloria to spend the day with him and takes her to the bellower at the top of a church spire. In a moment of honesty, Francisco finds himself in a misanthropic tirade about the "worms" down below. His rant escalates until he spontaneously begins to strangle Gloria, threatening to throw her over the rail to the sidewalk below to punish her in jealous rage. Gloria pulls herself from danger and runs away. It is only at this point that the flashback comes full circle, and Gloria encounters Raul. After hearing the story, Raul suggests that she leave her husband.

Gloria returns home willingly, but Francisco sees that someone brought her to the house, and demands to know who it was. He is devastated to learn that Gloria had been with Raul. The pattern of Francisco's jealously is unbroken and he contemplates divorce. But he seeks reconciliation after apparently realizing that Gloria has never in fact had an affair. Gloria confesses that "she was confused," but that she had to confide in somebody, and that somebody was Raul. When Francisco realizes that she had told Raul about their marital problems, he regards it as an utter betrayal, and says angrily that he can't forgive her for it.

That night, Francisco attempts to infibulate Gloria in her sleep. As he is trying to tie her up with a rope, she awakes and screams. This scares him off, and he cowers back into his room for the night in dismay and breaks down, as though his actions are spiraling out of his control. The next morning he finds that she has run away. Francisco gets his revolver, and runs off to search for her. He first goes to Raul's office, but he is not there. Outside he sees Raul and Gloria riding in a car together. In an increasingly unhinged fashion, he chases after them all the way to their destination: the church from the beginning of the film. Inside, he discovers that it is not Raul and Gloria after all, but another couple. Francisco descends into madness, and hallucinates that the entire congregation is laughing at him. He looks deliriously around the church until he finally sees the priest, a good friend of his, joining in the laughter. He charges the altar and attacks the priest, and the congregation rushes to the stage. As they pull Francisco off the priest, the priest continues to stick up for Francisco, saying, "don't hurt him, he's my friend; he's gone mad!"

Much later, Gloria, Raul, and a small child pay a visit to a monastery. It is revealed that Francisco has been taken in by the monks and has been taught in their ways. They meet with the head monk, but do not talk with Francisco, not wishing to reopen old wounds. Gloria and Raul have named their child "Francisco",and is implied that the child may not be Raul's. The head monk later tells Francisco of their visit, which he had already observed from afar. He confirms Francisco's suspicion that the child is the son of Gloria and Raul. Francisco affirms that, ultimately, "time has proven my point." However, he says this not in resentment but in resignation, as he follows with, "but to what avail?" The final shot of the film shows him slowly wandering through the monastery gardens into a dark doorway.

After a whole eon, Kremmen has been awarded ''The Most Fabulous Man in the World Apart from God Award'', and is presented with an enormous, fully automated spaceship shaped like a Brain. While Dr. Gitfinger examines the controls, Carla persuades Kremmen to have casual sex with her in their private quarters.

On Earth, the United Nations, along with David Frost, hold a secret meeting concerning an unknown matter and decide to alert Kremmen, who is now watching a documentary-film about trawler fishing in the North Sea with Carla. They return to Earth and go to meet the homosexual Head of Universal Security, simply named "Q", who informs Kremmen that planets are disappearing.

Along with their new robot Benny, Kremmen and the crew follow what appears to be a giant space-monster (who is apparently eating the planets) into the Snoop Galaxy, where the ship is swallowed whole by the monster. By pumping the Oxygen reserves into the monster's stomach, the ship is vomited out of the stomach and the crew are saved.