When the boyfriend of a rich, bored socialite dies from a weak heart, she finds herself attracted to the doctor who treated him, a hard-working idealist decidedly different from the usual spoiled society rich kids she is used to.

An elderly business tycoon, believed to be dying, decides to give a million dollars each to eight strangers chosen at random from the phone directory.

Two sisters from Indiana, the wide-eyed and innocent Mae Thorpe, and her more streetwise sister June, move into the Rolf House for Homeless Girls in New York. With June's help, Mae obtains a job as a stenographer for the scientist Joseph von Schraeder, while June gets work as a telegraph operator at Western Union.

A New York fashion model finds herself being pursued by a poor but honest garage mechanic and a rich philanderer.

A bandleader tries to romance a dancer by sending her boyfriend, a musician, out of town. However, things get complicated when he finds out that a gangster has designs on her too.

When his father is murdered, erstwhile conman Nick Darrow asks the cops if he can go undercover to find the killers, and maybe even stop a crime ring that has been plaguing the police. The sister of another innocent victim joins him as they infiltrate the syndicate. Any wrong move could lead to instant death.

Jackie is the perpetually adolescent mother of two grown children - daughter Lee and son Jeff - who are in their early 20's. In spite of the fact that fourth husband Robert is a good provider, good step-dad, and all-around good sport about Jackie's rather wild ways, Jackie is intent on divorcing him although she seems to bear the man no resentment. It just seems that her only reason is that it's time for a change, much like an impulse to buy a new hat. Both children are upset about her decision since they have great affection for Robert. However, daughter Lee has just arrived home from school and decides to accompany her mother to Reno to look after her. On the train west, Lee meets a young mining engineer, Tom, who is headed to a job interview in California. The two hit it off and a romance buds.

The Secret Call is adapted from The Woman, a play by William C. DeMille (brother of Cecil B.) Peggy Shannon plays Wanda Kelly, the daughter of a disgraced politician. Reduced to working as a switchboard operator, Wanda is privy to the many secrets and indiscretions of the clients of a big-city hotel. She also finds romance in the form of handsome Tom Blake (Richard Arlen). The huge cast of characters comes in handy for the film's multitude of subplots, none of which ever get their wires crossed. Peggy Shannon acquits herself nicely in her first major role, but by the end of the decade her career was in decline.