在1952年韩战正打得火热的时候。美国海军77特战队飞行员布鲁贝克（威廉·霍尔登饰），经常出生入死，执行最艰巨的任务，刚从海中救援后，又要执行炸毁独孤桥任务。在两峡谷之间，不能转身、俯冲，不知要直飞或低飞，满山遍野都是高射炮阵地，这就是独孤里桥。

故事发生在1945年，弗雷德（达纳·安德鲁斯 Dana Andrews 饰），艾尔（弗雷德里克·马奇 Fredric March 饰）和霍莫（哈罗德·拉塞尔 Harold Russell 饰）是三名刚刚走下战场的军人，即将回到久违的家乡，即将见到久别的亲人，虽然三人的境遇各不相同，但内心中的激动和忐忑却别无二致，分别在即，他么许下了再相聚的约定。 丈夫艾尔的平安归来让米莉（玛娜·洛伊 Myrna Loy 饰）的内心陷入狂喜久久不能平静，带着已经长大成人的一双儿女，四口之家的未来幸福而又光明。弗雷德就没有这么幸运了，不仅父母的状况不容乐观，新婚的妻子也风流成性夜夜出没于欢场之中。对于霍莫来说，战争给自己带来的残疾成为了压在亲人和爱人肩上的重担，在自责和悔恨中，他终日闷闷不乐。约定的日子很快就到来了，此时的三人尚不知，这一次再会即将改变他们的命运。

把罗马焚城后，惨无人道的暴君尼禄（查尔斯·劳顿 Charles Laughton 饰）将矛头指向基督徒，开始大规模肆意捕杀基督徒。不仅如此，尼禄更颁布了法令把抓获的基督徒送往竞技场。罗马最高军事军官马库斯（弗雷德里克·马奇 Fredric March 饰）奉命残杀这些捕获的基督徒。被抓的基督徒中有两名老者准备逃跑，马库斯本欲逮捕他们，然而当马库斯看到他们的继女麦西卡（爱丽莎·兰迪 Elissa Landi 饰）时，情不自禁地一见倾心。楚楚动人的麦西卡，马库斯很快与她坠入爱河不能自拔，随之下令释放了所有基督徒。马库斯的这一举动，不仅激怒了暴君尼禄，更让一直暗恋他的皇后帕亚（克劳黛·考尔白 Claudette Colbert 饰）醋意大发，心生嫉妒。

Because I could not stop for Death, he kindly stopped for me; the carriage held but just ourselves and immortality” – Emily Dickinson If Death took a holiday, the guns would go silent in Iraq, the slaughter on our nation’s highways would cease, and the news media would be compelled to cover positive events in the humanities, arts, and sciences. Unfortunately, Death has not had a vacation in recorded history, but Mitchell Leisen’s 1934 fantasy, Death Takes a Holiday, allows us to consider the possibility. Co-written by Maxwell Anderson and Gladys Lehman and based on the play "La Morte in Vacanza" by Alberto Casella, Death Takes a Holiday stars Frederic March as the Grim Reaper who takes on human form in an attempt to discover why men fear him so much. Why he has waited 5,000 years to satisfy this curiosity is not explained. [Spoiler] After a brief tryout as a shadowy figure who scares the daylights out of those that cross his path, Death shows up at, of all places, an upscale party at an Italian villa, posing as the mysterious Prince Sirki. Only one person knows who he really is, the host Duke Lambert (Guy Standing), and he is sworn to secrecy. Sirki proceeds to fascinate the guests. Given to bursts of wit and poetry, he can just as quickly turn sullen and threatening, and some soon find out that it is better not to look too deeply into his eyes. During the three days in which the Prince is at the villa, however, people all over the world miraculously escape death and potential suicides are doomed to frustration. To see what’s behind all the conversation about love, the suave but naïve Prince Sirki falls for the irresistible Grazia (Evelyn Venable), the daughter of one of Duke’s friends. Grazia knows who Death is but does not fear him, much to the chagrin of her fiancé, Corrado (Kent Taylor) who has developed a strong disdain for Prince Charming. More sinister than Brad Pitt in the 1998 remake Meet Joe Black, March turns in a very convincing performance as the creepy yet strangely appealing guest. Although the ending is melodramatic, the emotions are very real and the suggestion that Death may in reality be a friend disguised as a foe is quite touching. (Howard Schumann, talkingpix.co.uk) In this wearisome and predictable plot line, Death falls in love and bores us to death talking about it. (Dennis Schwartz, homepages.sover.net) I've heard DRACULA was advertised with the tag line "The Weirdest Love Story ever told!" (this is probably a paraphrase), but at heart, I've never felt that you could honestly call that movie a love story. The tag line would be much more appropriate for this one, since it ultimately boils down to what amounts to a love story. This movie is very good indeed, particularly if you consider that it is built around a concept that could have easily been handled in a cute or facile manner. Instead, it is handled as seriously as possible, with some real thought put into how death would try to come to terms with a life and an outlook that was to that point totally unfamiliar to him; much of the credit does go to Fredric March in the title role. It's quite scary when it needs to be, particularly during the first twenty minutes. From then on, it deals with its themes with subtlety, a quiet wit, an enduring sadness, and an everpresent tension on how Death might react if crossed. It's not perfect; some of the dialogue is self-conscious and artificial, as if the writers knew they were dealing with weighty issues and were trying to be profound. But I am certainly glad they didn't try to turn it into a musical comedy of sorts. (Dave Sindelar, scifilm.org) See also the remake: Death Takes A Holiday (1971)

杰瑞（克拉克·盖博 Clark Gable 饰）是一个叱咤赌场的老千，因为出千被发现了，杰瑞遭到了警方的追捕。无奈之下，杰瑞躲到了小镇格兰戴尔内避风头，在这里，杰瑞邂逅了名叫康尼（卡洛·朗白 Carole Lombard 饰）的女孩。美丽单纯的康尼很快就吸引了杰瑞的注意，风流成性的杰瑞对她开展了热烈的攻势。 康尼虽然年轻，但并不是傻子，她甚至杰瑞花花公子的本性，对她提防有加。最终，两人打算靠着抛硬币来决定他们的关系，结果，硬币停在了结婚的那一面。愿赌服输，就这样，杰瑞和康尼携手步入了婚姻的殿堂。在往后的日子里，康尼逐渐了解到了杰瑞不为人知的过去。

基克尔（弗雷德里克·马奇 Fredric March 饰）是一名知识非常渊博的科学家，他将毕生的经历都投注到了探索人性的善恶奥妙之中，并且最终制造出了一种可怕的药剂，这种药剂能够令基克尔化身成为海德先生，基克尔将自己所有的恶意和坏念头都投射到了海德的大脑里。白天，基克尔行医救人乐善好施，待到夜幕降临，海德先生便会现身，杀人害命，无恶不作。 基克尔有一位名叫伊芙（米利亚姆·霍普金斯 Miriam Hopkins 饰）的未婚妻，两人之间的感情非常的要好，然而，海德先生的存在让基克尔不自觉的被名叫碧翠丝（Eric Wilton 饰）的放荡妓女所吸引。分裂的人格让基克尔感到万分的痛苦，他想要消灭海德先生。

故事发生在印地安娜州的伯里斯郊，唐（弗雷德里克·马奇 Fredric March 饰）和妻子艾琳娜（玛莎·斯考特 Martha Scott 饰）幸福的生活在这里，共同抚养着女儿辛迪（玛丽·墨菲 Mary Murphy 饰）和儿子拉斐尔（理查德·艾尔 Richard Eyer 饰）。一天，当艾琳娜送丈夫和孩子出门之后，以格林（亨弗莱·鲍嘉 Humphrey Bogart 饰）和他弟弟霍尔（杜威·马丁 Dewey Martin 饰）为首的一帮越狱犯闯进了家中。 之后，格林又如同请君入瓮一般的控制了家中的另外三人，他们的要求很简单，就是等待格林的情妇来给他们送钱。实际上，警方已经在追捕这批逃犯了，但他们并不知道这些犯罪分子们其实近在眼前。

While out riding in the country, wealthy New Yorker Alec Walker meets young widow Julie Eden, and a relationship quickly develops. However, Alec has not told her that he is already locked into a loveless marriage to the avaricious Maida, who has contrived to convince his parents she is the ideal wife. A completely coincidental car crash alerts the two women to each other's existence, a situation to which they react very differently.

San Francisco Tong hatchet man Wong must execute his boyhood friend Sun. Sun knew his time was up and wrote out his will just prior to Wong showing up at his door. When Sun realizes Wong is there to kill me he tries to set his friend's mind at ease by telling him he is the beneficiary of all Sun's worldly possessions and convinces Wong to promise to take care of Sun's young daughter, Toya San who Sun has bequeathed to become his wife. Years later, when she becomes of age, she marries Wong, now a powerful figure, though she loves evil Harry. When Wong learns Toya will be happier with Harry he allows them to leave. Still later Wong learns that Harry has been deported and since Toya could not prove she was married to someone else she too was deported to China. When Wong learns of this, he goes after them.

艾斯特（珍妮·盖诺 Janet Gaynor 饰）是怀揣着成名的梦想，刚刚步入好莱坞发展的年轻女演员，在大明星诺曼（弗雷德里克·马奇 Fredric March 饰）举办的慈善演出中，艾斯特大放异彩，成为了万众瞩目的焦点，而她和诺曼之间也相互吸引，渐渐产生了感情，就这样，两人走到了一起。 诺曼用自己的人脉帮助艾斯特创造了一些演出机会，而艾斯特本身就是一个悟性非常高的女孩，拥有绝佳的表演天赋，没过多久，她就成为了冉冉升起的新星，未来可期，前途无量。但相对的，艾斯特的成名反衬出了诺曼的过气，他酗酒的毛病让他的星途屡遭滑铁卢。虽然妻子的优秀令诺曼感到自豪，但沮丧和挫败感亦在无时不刻的折磨着他。

《我的高德弗里》由一处破败的垃圾场开始，尖锐地嘲笑了贵族们无聊透顶的“狩猎”游戏，同时也把平民化的男主角高非里带进了一个有趣但完全颓废的布尔乔亚家庭。那里充满了对立，姐姐厌恶他，想方设法地陷害他；而妹妹善良正直，偏偏对这位穷管家心有独衷。其实这位管家毕业于名牌高校，他用主人家的钱偷偷投资,最终使得这个家庭免于破产，并且为流浪汉修建了一个“垃圾场”俱乐部。当然，美人入怀也是必不可少的。男主角威廉·鲍威尔仪态儒雅，凭借侦探喜剧《瘦人》系列蜚声好莱坞；妹妹扮演者卡罗尔·隆巴德更是美国少有的天才喜剧演员，她嫁给盖博，并于1942年出演了刘别谦的反战名作《生死问题》。可惜，该片尚未公映，隆巴德不幸在拉斯维加斯坠机身亡。

In 1672, two witches (Jennifer and her father Daniel) were burned by puritan Jonathan Wooley. In revenge, Jennifer cursed all future generations of the Wooley family, that the sons will always marry the wrong woman and be miserable. In the 20th century, a bolt of lightning frees Jennifer and her father from the tree that had kept their souls imprisoned. Jennifer assumes corporeal form and decides to make up-and-coming politician Wallace Wooley, then unhappily engaged, even more miserable by getting him to fall in love with her before his wedding. Wallace is a straight arrow, though, and Jennifer has to resort to a love potion. As we all know, love potions tend to backfire, with comedic results.

海伦（卡洛·朗白 Carole Lombard 饰）拥有美丽的外貌和善良的个性，但唯一的缺点就是喜欢撒谎。肯尼斯（弗莱德·麦克莫瑞 Fred MacMurray 饰）是海伦的丈夫，同时也是一名律师，和海伦恰恰相反，肯尼斯是一个非常实事求是的男人，绝对不会给满口谎言之人做辩护。 为了补贴家用，海伦瞒着肯尼斯偷偷找了一份做秘书的工作，哪知道她的雇主是一个打色狼，在他企图对海伦图谋不轨之后，海伦打了他。哪知道第二天竟然传来了他的死讯，海伦不幸成为了最大嫌疑人遭到了逮捕。肯尼斯决定为自己的妻子辩护，可是面对丈夫的质问，海伦又开始不受控制的鬼话连篇起来。

A drunken newspaperman is rescued from his alcoholic haze by an heiress whose love sobers him up and encourages him to write a play, but he lapses back into dipsomania.

汤姆（弗雷德里克·马奇 Fredric March 饰）是一名内心怀揣着远大理想的剧作家，而乔治（加里·库柏 Gary Cooper 饰）则是一位名不见经传的小小画家，两人同为文艺界人士，在巴黎合租了一幢公寓。一次偶然中，汤姆和乔治邂逅了名为吉尔达（米利亚姆·霍普金斯 Miriam Hopkins 饰）的女子，两人同时被吉尔达与众不同的魅力所深深吸引，坠入了情网。 然而，夹在这两个男人之间的吉尔达无法做出选择，于是想出了一个注意，那就是住进汤姆和乔治家中，督促他们创作作品，就这样，一段奇怪的三角关系形成了。为了创作一部话剧，汤姆需要返回伦敦待一阵子，他十分担心在他不在的这段时间里，乔治和吉尔达之间会擦出火花。

纽约百老汇，戏剧导演Oscar Jaffe（约翰·巴里摩尔 John Barrymore 饰）捧红了女演员Lily Garland（卡洛·朗白 Carole Lombard 饰），两人成为百老汇票房保证，同时也是一对情侣。合作三年后，Lily因为受不了Oscar对她私人生活的过度干预，偷偷跑去了好莱坞演电影。Oscar一怒之下起用了新的女演员，可惜票房很差，还在芝加哥欠下了债。在从芝加哥回纽约的二十世纪列车上，Oscar机缘巧合又和Lily在同一列火车上。Oscar试图挽回Lily，不管是爱情还是演戏，但Lily已经有了另外的恋人，也对重新和Oscar合作不感兴趣。这列火车上碰巧有一位脑子不大好使的大富翁，Oscar利用这个富翁给他开了张支票，试图以这张支票来让Lily签了演戏的合约。然而这位所谓“大富翁”原来不过是个精神病人，Oscar手中的支票毫无价值。心灰意冷的Oscar决定开枪自尽......

波兰华沙有一个剧团，其中有一名演员Bronski（Tom Dugan 饰）极其擅长模仿德国纳粹领袖希特勒。Maria Tura（卡洛·朗白 Carole Lombard 饰）和Joseph Tura（杰克·本尼 Jack Benny 饰）是剧团里的一对夫妻，剧团最近正在上演《哈姆雷特》。演出间隙，Maria收到了一束鲜花，来自一个年轻的飞行员Stanislav Sobinski（罗伯特·斯塔克 Robert Stack 饰），趁着Joseph在舞台上念著名台词“to be or not to be”的时候，她安排Sobinski进了后台，两人情愫暗生。然而不久后，纳粹侵略波兰，Sobinski只能前往作战。Sobinski所在队伍的领导是Siletsky教授，Sobinski想让Siletsky帮忙带封信给Maria，然而Siletsky却连著名女演员Maria都不认识，于是Sobinski开始对Siletsky产生了怀疑。Sobinski为了追踪Siletsky又回到华沙。而另一方面，Maria却被两个纳粹士兵带去见Siletsky，Siletsky对Maria也是心生爱慕，更希望Maria成为纳粹在波兰的间谍。Maria借故逃回家，却在家中意外的碰到了Sobinski和她的丈夫Josef，这段三角关系该如何收场，他们又要如何联手对抗纳粹？

一个商船的船长被当地的游客从中国共产党里援救出来，他强行当上一只旧汽船的水手，把整个村子的人运往香港。

蕾姬（卡洛·朗白 Carole Lombard 饰）从来不相信什么狗屁爱情，她的人生目标只有一个，那就是傍上一个大款，一跃飞上枝头做凤凰。艾伦（拉尔夫·贝拉米 Ralph Bellamy 饰）是一位身患残疾的富翁，他对蕾姬的感情观不置可否，他知道虽然蕾姬嘴上视爱情如粪土，但这个世界上一定会有一个男人令她坠入情网之中。 很快，这个男人就出现了，他的名字叫做西奥多雷（弗莱德·麦克莫瑞 Fred MacMurray 饰），刚开始，蕾姬以为西奥多雷是指一个一文不值的穷小子，但之后她意外的发现，这个其貌不扬的男人竟然家财万贯，实现梦想的机会近在眼前。但很快蕾姬便失望的得知，他已经有未婚妻了。