Leo Kohlmeyer is a talking cat who inherits $5 million from his late owner and is looked after by the owner's in-laws whose two children, Bart and Veronica, learn Leo's secret that he can talk, while a bumbling, but devious, couple called the Rigsbys plot to kidnap Leo in order for them to gain the inheritance money for themselves.

The rags-to-riches saga of a young Italian immigrant who battles his way out of the San Francisco earthquake to become a shipping magnate, rise to the top of Nob Hill's society through a loveless marriage to the daughter of the city's wealthiest family, and find happiness with an Asian mistress despite the collapse of his fortune during the Wall Street crash.

The goings-on at a typical drive-in on a summer night.

Hamilton Hill meets Estelle Redding in an umbrella repair shop and rescues her from two thugs soon afterwards. Estelle has hidden in the handle of her grey parasol the formula for "Coalex," an inexpensive substitute for coal which the coal trust is trying to prevent from reaching the market. Edward Burnham, one of the thugs, tells Hamilton that Estelle is a German agent, but the infatuated young bachelor fails to believe the story.

In a world ravaged by crime, the entire island of Manhattan has been converted into a walled prison where brutal prisoners roam free. After the US president crash-lands inside, war hero Snake Plissken has 24 hours to bring him back.