Spoiled playboy Henry van Cleve dies and arrives at the entrance to Hell, a final destination he is sure he deserves after living a life of profligacy. The devil, however, isn't so sure Henry meets Hell's standards. Convinced he is where he belongs, Henry recounts his life's deeds, both good and bad, including an act of indiscretion during his 25-year marriage to his wife, Martha, with the hope that "His Excellency" will arrive at the proper judgment.
Ten years after the death of millionaire Cyrus Norman, his will is to be read out to his six relatives, including Joyce Norman and Wally Campbell. Organized by Norman's lawyer, Crosby, the six meet at Norman's eerie New Orleans Gothic mansion. During the reading, the superstitious housekeeper declares that someone will be dead by midnight. Wally fears for Joyce when she is declared the sole inheritor, but all are alarmed when Crosby turns up dead.
Ilona, who is dating actor Aarne, wants to pursue a career in theater herself. Sakari, a professor of surgery, strongly opposes his daughter's plans, but changes his mind after falling in love with actress Irma.
Soldiers conducting combat exercises in the area attract women more than civilians, as Raakki-Kustaa and cantor Sylvester learn to their cost. Private Malakias charms the cowgirl Sandra with his smooth talk. Major Jyrki's manly appearance appeals to the charming lady of the manor, Oilia.
The two friends, Adel and Sharif, reside in one apartment, and Sharif falls in love with Enas and his exchange of feelings is the same, to ask her to marry her cousin Darwish, who suffers from mental problems, so that Darwish requires him to marry Salwa his friend Adel first for a week as a condition to complete the marriage, and events escalate.
Bank manager wants to hire younger employees. Fired cashier decides to teach him a lesson.
Offbeat fashion student Betsy Hopper and her straight-laced investment-banker fiancé Jake Lovell just want an intimate little wedding reception, but Betsy's father Eddie, a Long Island construction contractor, feels so threatened by Jake's rich WASP parents that he blows the ceremony up into a bank-breaking showpiece, sending his wife Lola into a financial panic.
Rosencrantz and Guildensterm, minor characters from the play 'Hamlet', find themselves on the road to Elsinore Castle at the behest of the King of Denmark. The duo encounter a band of players before arriving to find that they are needed to try to discern what troubles the prince Hamlet. Meanwhile, they ponder the meaning of their existence.
Passing herself off as a countess, glamorous Lucy Stavrin hobnobs with the rich and famous along the French Riviera. Aware that Lucy is a phony, jewel-thief Malatroff blackmails Lucy into helping him steal the valuable necklace owned by the young wife of phlegmatic American businessman Sylvester Corbett.
A home, a motorcar, servants, the latest fashions: the most eligible and most finicky bachelor in Paris offers them all to Gigi. But she, who's gone from girlish gawkishness to cultured glamour before our eyes, yearns for that wonderful something money can't buy.
Following his release from a seven-year stretch in prison, Mario Diccara discovers that his affairs with the underworld aren't completely settled. His brother Patrick, a priest, suggests that he stays with elderly Father Etienne in a small village in Ardeche until the conflict blows over. But their plan takes an unexpected turn when Father Etienne dies.
Jeffrey, a gay man living in New York City with an overwhelming fear of contracting AIDS, concludes that being celibate is the only option to protect himself. As fate would have it, shortly after his declaration of a sex-free existence, he meets the handsome Steve Howard, his dream man -- except for his HIV-positive status. Facing this dilemma, Jeffrey turns to his best friend and an outrageous priest for guidance.
The self-assured manager Julius Särkelä maintains strict discipline in his office and at home, which is experienced by his daughter Saara and her suitor Martti, as well as the landlord Heroja, who is chasing his debts, and even the cat belonging to the patron Fallsten. Dr. Kosonen softens the stern leader by giving a speech at a party, which ultimately revolutionizes Särkelä's worldview.
The boyish, temperamental chemistry student Elsa Kassel disapproves of her mother and sisters running after men, but when she hears that she's referred to as "ugly Elsa", she takes on a transformation. The new, charming Elsa tests her attractiveness on men and causes confusion all the way to her mother's new groom, Professor Harjula.
A harmless séance at a novelist's home summons the ghost of his glamorous first wife.
Four young people escape Athens to a forest where the king and queen of the fairies are quarreling, while meanwhile, a troupe of amateur actors rehearses a play. When the fairy Puck uses a magic flower to make people fall in love, the whole thing becomes a little bit confused...
"Sordid Lives" is about a family in a small Texas town preparing for the funeral of the mother. Among the characters are the grandson trying to find his identity in West Hollywood, the son who has spent the past twenty-three years dressed as Tammy Wynette, the sister and her best friend (who live in delightfully kitschy homes), and the two daughters (one strait-laced and one quite a bit of a loser).
At age 42, Rafael Belvedere is having a crisis. He lives in the shadow of his father, he feels guilty about rarely visiting his aging mother, his ex-wife says he doesn't spend enough time with their daughter and he has yet to make a commitment to his girlfriend. At his lowest point, a minor heart attack reunites him with Juan Carlos, a childhood friend, who helps Rafael to reconstruct his past.
An Episcopal Bishop, Henry Brougham, has been working for months on the plans for an elaborate new cathedral which he hopes will be paid for primarily by a wealthy, stubborn widow. He is losing sight of his family and of why he became a churchman in the first place. Enter Dudley, an angel sent to help him. Dudley does help everyone he meets, but not necessarily in the way they would have preferred. With the exception of Henry, everyone loves him, but Henry begins to believe that Dudley is there to replace him, both at work and in his family's affections, as Christmas approaches.
1892. Vappu Biörcke and Kaarlo Härkönen get to know each other during the summer in the countryside at the birthday of Vappu Jalle-sedä. In Helsinki, the young people continue their courtship under the supervision of Vapu's aunt, Moster Mella. However, Vapu's father, business advisor Ossian Biörcke, is not as accepting when his daughter's actions begin to be revealed.