Spinner McGee, devil-may-care mail pilot volunteers his courage and skill for the task of raising $100,000 to save the small airport owned by Pop Hussey from being condemned.
Racketeer Steve Recka, art patron and political power-maker, rules his town and Madame Lan Ying, his beautiful friend and hostess (read:mistress), with an iron hand. He meets Margaret Van Kase, a socialite not impressed by his power nor his wealth, having no money herself, and Steve makes frantic efforts to win her and turns away from the loyal Lin Yang.
L'espion international , Zarnoff, à l'emploi de "Les Trois Pouvoirs" (vraisemblablement une référence fictive à l' Axe ) est capturé par Dick Tracy au début de la série, jugé et condamné à mort. Cependant, grâce à l'usage d'une drogue rare incrustée par ses agents dans le journal du soir, il s'évade de la chambre à gaz . Ses hommes ramassent son "cadavre" en tendant une embuscade au corbillard et en lui administrant un autre contre-médicament. Il poursuit ses plans d'espionnage , tout en profitant de l'occasion pour se venger de Tracy.
Shirley Ross plays an innocent young girl convicted for complicity in a crime committed by her boy friend (Lloyd Nolan). The male crook is sentence to six months on a prison farm populated by both men and women (segregated, of course). Ross is also incarcerated, suffering the cruelties of the sadistic male and female guards (including J. Carroll Naish and future "Ma Kettle" Marjorie Main!)
Promises of happier times dawn for the financially distressed Patterson family when father Sweeney and brother-in-law Archibald "Doc" Finney win a $150,000 grand prize in the sweepstake contest. With their windfall, each member of the family decides to pursue a dream.