In World War I song-and-dance man Jerry Jones (George Murphy) is drafted into the US Army, where he stages a revue called Yip Yip Yaphank. It is a rousing success, but one night during the show orders are received to leave immediately for France: instead of the finale, the troops march up the aisles through the audience, out the theater's main entrance and into a convoy of waiting trucks. Among the teary, last minute goodbyes Jones kisses his newlywed bride Ethel (Rosemary DeCamp) farewell.
As three sailors – Gabey, Chip, and Ozzie – begin their shore leave, Gabey falls in love with the picture of "Miss Turnstiles", who is actually Ivy Smith. The sailors race around New York attempting to find her in the brief period they have ("New York, New York").
Based on the successful 1956 Broadway production of the same name by Betty Comden, Adolph Green, and Jule Styne, the film focuses on Ella Peterson, who works in the basement office of Susanswerphone, a telephone answering service.
Little Joe, a man killed over gambling debts, is restored to life by angelic powers and given six months to redeem his soul and become worthy of entering Heaven—otherwise he will be condemned to Hell. Secretly guided by "The General" (the Lord's Angel), Little Joe gives up his shiftless ways and becomes a hardworking, generous, and loving husband to his wife Petunia, whom he had previously neglected. Unfortunately, demon Lucifer Jr. (the son of Satan himself), is determined to drag Little Joe to Hell. Lucifer arranges for Joe to become wealthy by winning a lottery, reintroduces Joe to beautiful gold-digger Georgia Brown, and manipulates marital discord between Joe and Petunia. Little Joe abandons his wife for Georgia, and the two embark on a life of hedonistic pleasure. As Little Joe and Georgia celebrate at a nightclub one evening, Petunia joins them, determined to win Joe back. Little Joe fights with Domino for Petunia and she prays for God to destroy the nightclub. A cyclone appears and leaves the nightclub in ruins, as Joe and Petunia lie dead in the ruins after being shot by Domino. Just as it appears that Joe's soul is lost forever, the angelic General informs him that Georgia was so affected by the tragedy that she has donated all the money that he had given her to the church. On this technicality, Little Joe is allowed to go to Heaven with Petunia. As the two climb the Celestial Stairs, Joe suddenly wakes in his own bed. He had not been killed in the initial gambling-debt fracas—he had only received a concussion, and all his supposed dealings with angels and demons were only a fever dream. Now genuinely reformed, Little Joe begins a new, happy life with his loving Petunia.
In 1905, Tevye, a poor Jewish milkman living in the Russian village of Anatevka, explains to the audience what keeps the Jews of Anatevka going is the balance they achieve through following their ancient traditions, comparing their precarious circumstance to a fiddler on a roof: trying to scratch out a pleasant tune, while not breaking their necks. The fiddler appears throughout the film as a metaphoric reminder of the Jews' ever-present fears and danger, and also as a symbol of the traditions Tevye is trying to hold on to as his world changes around him. While in town, Tevye meets Perchik, a radical Marxist from Kiev. Tevye invites Perchik to stay with him and his family, and as a deal, offers him food, in exchange for Perchik tutoring his daughters.
In New York City in the 1870s, as the city prepares for the upcoming election, corrupt political boss William Tweed (Vincent Price) and his Tammany Hall political machine are working hard to re-elect their candidates, including Mayor Oakley (Hobart Cavanaugh), in order to continue exploiting the coffers of the city and state. The one voice opposing Boss Tweed's organization is John Matthews (Dick Haymes), a young naïve reporter for The New York Times.
In the West Side's Lincoln Square neighborhood in Manhattan, there is tension between an Anglo gang, the Jets, led by Riff, and a Puerto Rican gang of immigrants, the Sharks, led by Bernardo. After a brawl erupts ("Prologue"), Lieutenant Schrank and Officer Krupke arrive and break it up, warning both gangs to cease fighting or pay. Despite the warning, the Jets decide to challenge the Sharks to a rumble for neighborhood control at an upcoming dance.
Upper West Side, années 1950. Deux bandes de jeunes s'affrontent : d'un côté les Sharks dirigés par Bernardo et de l'autre les Jets, avec Riff à leur tête. Tony, lié au Jets, va s'éprendre de Maria, la sœur de Bernardo.