二十年代的美国处于经济萧条时期，失业率居高不下，工人受尽压榨，成为了大机器生产中的一颗螺丝钉。查理（查理·卓别林 Charles Chaplin 饰）就是一个底层市民，他在一个机器隆隆的厂房里日以继夜地工作，以赚取微薄的收入。重复繁重的工作压得他喘不过气，他把人们的鼻子当成螺丝钉来拧，卷入流水线机器的皮带里，令人苦笑不得。
查理尽管贫穷，但却很善良。他在路上搭救了流浪女，和她一起生活，家里破烂却又温馨。每次身无分文的查理为了找到吃的，都会故意犯事，以便进入监牢。光景一时间有了好转，流浪女成了歌舞红星，然而好景太短暂了。

马戏团的表演因为呆板无趣而失去了观众，他们面临着破产和倒闭的危险，谁都不知道会不会有“救星”从天而降。流浪汉查理（查理·卓别林 Charles Chaplin 饰）在游园会中被卷入了一个小偷的圈套中，招来警察的追捕。他像无头的苍蝇一样钻进了正在演出的马戏团。舞台上，查理 躲避警察的各种肢体动作，被观众当成马戏团的表演，他们非常喜欢查理的“表演”，热烈地鼓掌来。马戏团老板想让查理留下来，帮助马戏团起死回生。虽然查理并不想以马戏团为生，但是走投无路的他为了维持生计也只好接受了老板的提议。很快，查理的喜剧表演天赋让他成为了马戏团的招牌演员。他爱上了善良柔弱的马戏团老板女儿，想尽办法取悦她，但是，老板的女儿真正爱上了的人却是走钢丝的男演员，为了成全所爱的人，伤心的查理默默地离开了喜欢他的观众。

某街区发生一起绑架凶杀命案，警方苦于没有罪犯线索。一名城市快报的记者灵感突现，将目标锁定在江洋大盗舒德•麦迪什身上。他和同样供职于报社却哭无出头之日的室友（Buster Keaton 巴斯特•基顿 饰）制定一个周密的计划，由室友假冒麦迪什认罪入狱，因开警方的注意力，而记者则负责追踪麦迪什，最后赢取奖金平分。为前所困的室友答应了这个计划，千方百计成功将自己送入监狱。
某天，他从报纸上看到，记者乘坐的飞机坠毁，机组乘客无一生还，失去依靠的他不得不想办法逃离这里……

剧情描述三兄弟之中的老大想尽办法欺骗一名贵妇投资他的歌剧公司，不料两名调皮捣蛋的弟弟却在歌剧首演之夜在台前幕后大出洋相，但如此以来却让两名真正有天份的年轻歌唱家得到出头机会。
本片是喜剧组合马克斯兄弟享誉最高的一部名作。虽然有些人会觉得马克斯兄弟的笑闹手法夸张得几近无厘头，但导演萨姆·伍德把气氛拍得十分热闹有趣，在薄弱的情节和愚蠢的爱情故事之下仍制造出很高的娱乐性……

弗杰是一名盟军士兵的小女儿，她的父亲在偷越进入敌军境内深望生病的妻子时被俘获。当杰得知父亲和另一个善良的北方军官被宣布判处列刑时，她立刻决定去和林肯总统来一次小会谈……
秀兰.邓波儿扮演的是一个讨人喜欢的战争小英雄，剧中充满幽默的趣味，尤其是秀兰.邓波儿和比尔.罗宾逊的歌舞双重唱令印象深刻。

Arthur Ferguson Jones (Edward G. Robinson) and Wilhelmina Clark (Jean Arthur) work at the same accounting firm. Jones turns out to look exactly like the notorious bank robber "Killer" Mannion (also Robinson) and is apprehended by the police.
After his true identity is confirmed, the district attorney gives Jones a letter identifying him, so that he can avoid the same trouble in future. Jones becomes a local celebrity and, at the behest of his boss (Wallace Ford), begins ghost-writing Mannion's "autobiography", with good-natured but street-wise Wilhelmina voluntarily acting as his "talent agent" to see that he gets paid.
Mannion decides to take advantage of his mild-mannered doppelgänger and, ultimately, leaving Jones "holding the bag" for Mannion's crimes. He kidnaps Wilhelmina, Jones' visiting aunt, and a few others, and takes them back to his hideout. He instructs Jones to make a large deposit for Mannion's mother's benefit at the First National Bank, where police detectives are expecting Mannion to make another robbery attempt. Fortunately for Jones, he forgets to bring the check and unwittingly leads the police back to Mannion's hideout.
Upon his arrival, Jones is mistaken for Mannion by the waiting henchmen and quickly realizes that he is meant to be the fall guy. When Mannion returns unexpectedly, Jones orders the men to shoot Mannion. The police arrive in time to capture the rest of the gang. With Mannion dead, Jones collects a reward and takes a long-desired cruise to Shanghai with Wilhelmina.

这一集被大多数观众认为是陈查理系列影片中最精彩的一集。歌剧演员格莱维里患有健忘症，他刚从精神病院跑出来，并且被指控谋杀了他的妻子及其情人，而他们是和他在同一歌剧院的演员。电影中还上演了一出歌剧《狂欢节》而这是奥斯卡.莱文特特意为电影的拍摄而创作的。
头戴软呢帽、身穿西装的檀香山警察局侦探陈查理1925年诞生于美国作家厄尔·德尔·比格斯的笔下。在小说《没有钥匙的房间》中，他还是个小配角，但在接下去的《中国鹦鹉》中，这个东方神探便成了主角。之后，比格斯共创作了六部陈查理小说。
陈查理初次登上银幕是在1926年。高超的智慧、谦恭的态度、美国生活方式、不太用暴力使得西方观众喜欢上了这位华裔侦探。开始几部影片的大获成功让电影公司不满足于比格斯的小说，在接下去的30年，共有关于陈查理的48部电影和39集电视剧问世。在1926年的电影《没有钥匙的房间》和1928年的电影《中国鹦鹉》中扮演陈查理的分别是两位日本演员。福克斯公司在改编比格斯的第三部小说《帷幕之后》时，选用英国演员E.L.克拉克扮演陈查理。此后，陈查理一直由白人演员扮演，其中，瑞典演员华纳·奥兰德被公认为与陈查理的形象最符合。奥兰德和福克斯合作在1931年到1938年间他共主演了16部陈查理影片。奥兰德逝世后，悉尼·托勒在1938年到1947共主演22部陈查理影片，罗兰·温特在1948年到1952年间主演了6部陈查理影片。但今天，启用白人演员扮演黄皮肤的陈查理却遭到了恶评。

神秘间谍发明了一个可以控制飞机的控制盘。美国空军，柏林警察，和美国队游泳选手都介协助陈查理捉这名间谍。陈查理查案到柏林的奥林匹克，发现这名间谍有更大的阴谋，就是想把这个控制盘卖给恐怖分子。陈查理的儿子帮助他父亲尝试夺回这个控制盘和逮捕间谍。

Tycoon J.L. Higgins controls his whole family, but one of his sons- in-law, Dan Brooks and his daughter Alice are fed up with that. Brooks quits his job as manager of J.L.'s paper box factory and devotes his life to his racing horse Broadway Bill, but his bank- roll is thin and the luck is against him, he is arrested because of $150 he owes somebody for horse food, but suddenly a planed fraud by somebody else seems to offer him a chance...

A mobster's moll leads a newsman, cub reporter and photographer to a scoop.

An Indian rug is the key to the location of a lost treasure. When the rug's owner is murdered, it becomes a case for Forest Ranger Steve King

Truck drivers Steve Hackett and Bill Purvis are fired from their jobs with the West Coast Trucking company for not using second-gear going down steep grades. Davis, the company vice-president, surprisingly asks them to carry a load of merchandise to Arrowhead and offers a $1000 bonus. He tells them it is a load of lettuce. Several miles out of Los Angelese, they are stopped by a mob of lettuce-farm workers on strike. When the first crate is tossed off the truck, it explodes and the two pals learn their merchandise is a cargo of dynamite. The workers let them proceed and they crash into a car driven by Mary Stevens, whom they had met at a restaurant. She and her dog, "Butch" (played by a Credited dog named Stooge), join them and they deliver their cargo, and learn unscrupulous real-estate operators have jammed the locks on the dam in order to ruin the ranchers and farmers and take over their property.

Monogram's Whip Wilson western series occasionally produced a better-than-average entry. In Range Land, Wilson and saddle pal Andy Clyde try to get the goods on a gang of stagecoach bandits.

The evil and masked "Gargoyle" is sabotaging all of America's industrial plants. It is up to the Spider to save the country.

When Bob Dillon finds gold, Reed kills him. Bob's brother Jim arrives to investigate his death. Avoiding the attempt on his life by Reed's gang, Jim confronts Reed's partner Jenkins. When Jenkins flees on Jim's horse, Reed mistakenly shoots his partner. Unable to get Jim with bullets, Reed blames the murder on him and when the Sheriff jails Jim it looks like he will soon be be hung.

A wax museum run by a demented doctor contains statues of such crime figures as Jack the Ripper and Bluebeard. In addition to making wax statues the doctor performs plastic surgery. It is here that an arch fiend takes refuge.