Unscrupulously ambitious, Brutus Jones escapes from jail after killing a guard and, through bluff and bravado, finds himself the emperor of a Caribbean island.
Vaudevillian Joe Pitt sweeps young Sally Patter off of her feet and steals the lovestruck girl away from her small-town family to join his act. She winds up heartbroken, pregnant and broke when Joe runs off with the magician's sexy assistant. Sally bravely persists and her immense dancing and singing talent gain the notice of prominent producer, Wade Valentine. Under Valentine's tutelage, she rockets to Broadway stardom while Joe Pitt is reduced to waiting on tables. Alone, Sally proudly gives birth to a baby son. Wade proposes marriage to his beloved protege and it appears that Joe Pitt may never learn about the son he has fathered.
A singer on a gambling ship is married to a wealthy playboy. When he is found murdered, all evidence points to her as the culprit, and she is put on trial for the crime.
A circus performer falls in love with the son of a plantation owner in antebellum New Orleans. When the young man's stepmother objects to the wedding, the couple break apart and go their separate ways for a time. Also in the mix are two circus comics who feud over the heart of another Southern belle.