A Southern lawyer battles his way to the governorship, with the help of his secretary. Once elected, he becomes a dictator.

New York. Ames Billiards, with high ceilings and air of hushed concentration, is a church of pool. "Fast" Eddie Felson enters as an innocent con man and leaves with a taste of what the world can do, that talent alone will only get him so far, and that a man's search for "character," that hard-to-define quality that is simultaneously elusive and essential, could last a lifetime. Having come to take on pool legend Minnesota Fats, Eddie is soundly beaten...

New York. Ames Billiards, with high ceilings and air of hushed concentration, is a church of pool. "Fast" Eddie Felson enters as an innocent con man and leaves with a taste of what the world can do, that talent alone will only get him so far, and that a man's search for "character," that hard-to-define quality that is simultaneously elusive and essential, could last a lifetime. Having come to take on pool legend Minnesota Fats, Eddie is soundly beaten...

Wolf Larsen is the tyrannical captain of a freighter, who would rather "reign in Hell than serve in Heaven". He lords over a roughneck recruit, two castaways and his crew in a cruel manner.

The story of Alexander the Great, Greek hero and world-conqueror. Alexander is a man torn by conflict between his teacher, Aristotle, his warrior father and his own ambition.

A World War I veteran (Cagney) returns to New York, innocently becomes involved in bootlegging, builds up an empire and dies in a gang war. Set against a background of newsreel-like montages and narration.