Drummond's girlfriend is kidnapped by his enemies and he along with his friend Nielsen, an inspector from Scotland Yard, follow the trail and try to rescue her from the kidnappers.
A crooked real estate manipulator sells worthless land on mortgage to flood refugees, then tries to profit by reselling the land to the state, committing murder in the process, as the Three Mesquiteers work to bring him and his gang to justice.
Dick Tracy's foe for this serial is the crime boss and Masked Mystery Villain The Spider/The Lame One and his Spider Ring. In the process of various crimes, including using his Flying wing and sound weapon to destroy the Bay Bridge in San Francisco and stealing an experimental "Speed Plane", the Spider captures Dick Tracy's brother, Gordon. The Spider's minion, Dr. Moloch, performs a brain operation on Gordon Tracy to turn him evil, making him secretly part of the Spider Ring and so turning brother against brother.
Larry Evans, champion race car driver, is envied by his chief rival, Eddie DeSylva, who has more ambitions than merely winning the races; he has designs on the motor patent held by Corbett (Tom Moore), Larry's employer. Eddie also has a yen for Corbett's daughter, Norma, who prefers Larry. Eddie intentionally causes a race wreck that injures Larry and sends him to the hospital.
The Commandant is making life rough for the colonials in Spanish California. While trying to help, Zorro is charged with the murder of the new Governor, but in the end he triumphs over the evil Commandant.
At the Texas Centennial in Dallas Autry confuses two girls by being himself and his own stunt double. When cowboy star Tom Ford disappears, Wilson gets his double Gene Autry to impersonate him. But Ford owes gangster Rico $10,000 and Rico arrives to collect. He fails to get the money but learns that Autry is an impersonator and now blackmails Wilson and his movie studio. Original version runs 71 minutes, edited version runs 59 minutes.
A lawman captures the notorious "Pecos Kid", who is tried and hanged for his crimes--then starts to have doubts as to whether the Kid actually committed the crimes.
Chet Kasedon is after the Indians hidden gold mine but Chief Moya will not reveal it's location. He has also hired mining engineers Gale and Mortimer to locate the mine. When Gale sees Kasedon's cruelty to Moya, he switches sides.
John Wyatt is a government agent sent to smash a counterfeiting operation near the Mexican border. Joining Doc Carter's medicine show they arrive in the town where Curly Joe, who once framed Carter, resides.
When John Mason's father is killed, John is wounded. Attracted to his nurse Alice, a conflict arises between him and his friend Ben who plans to marry Alice. John later finds the killer of his father but goes to face him not knowing Ben has removed the bullets from his gun.
Rodeo star John Scott and his gambler friend Kansas Charlie are wrongly accused of armed robbery. They leave town as fast as they can to go looking for their own suspects in Poker City.
Chris Morrell, the guardian of half-Indian girl Nina, is helping her find her missing white father. so she can cash in on her late mother's oil lease. Outlaw Sam Black is after the girl and her father as well. Besides dealing with the Black gang, Morrell has to find another robber, Jim Moore, who switches clothes with him after he finds Chris unconscious from a fight with Sam Black. Along the way, he meets a lady who's the sister of Jim Moore, another bad hombre who's in cahoots with Jim Moore, and an old friend who takes in Nina and helps Chris locate Nina's father and fight off the various desperadoes
Tobin is after the bandit Zanti who killed his parents. He finds him just as Zanti is about to kill Dusty and kidnap Ruby. Saving the two, he goes after Zanti. He catches him but Zanti escapes the Sheriff's handcuff's and this time Tobin has to chase him into the desert.
An Easterner Inherits a cattle ranch, only to discover that thousands of cattle have been stolen. He secretly signs on as a hired hand at his own ranch to discover who's stealing them.