A lovable rogue named Finian McLonergan absconds from his native Ireland with a pot of gold secreted in a carpetbag, plus his daughter Sharon in tow. His destination is Rainbow Valley in the mythical state of Missitucky, where he plans to bury his treasure in the mistaken belief that, given its close proximity to Fort Knox, it will multiply.
Determined to make her young, blonde, and beautiful daughter June a vaudeville headliner, willful, resourceful, domineering stage mother Rose Hovick will stop at nothing to achieve her goal. She drags the girl and her shy, awkward, and decidedly less-talented older sister Louise around the country in an effort to get them noticed, and with the assistance of agent Herbie Sommers, she manages to secure them bookings on the prestigious Orpheum Circuit.
The basic plot remains the same as in the stage play and the 1936 film version. When the Cotton Blossom, Cap'n Andy Hawks's show boat, arrives in a Mississippi town to give a performance, a fistfight breaks out between leading man Steve Baker (Robert Sterling), and Pete (Leif Erickson), the boat's engineer who has been making passes at Steve's wife, leading lady Julie La Verne (Ava Gardner). But Cap'n Andy (Joe E. Brown) pretends to the assembled crowd that the two were really previewing a scene from one of the boat's melodramas. But Pete knows a dark secret about Julie, and he runs off to tell the local sheriff.
Rescued from the Colorado River as an infant and raised by Shamus Tobin, tomboy Molly Brown is determined to find a wealthy man to marry. She journeys to Leadville, Colorado and is hired as a saloon singer by Christmas Morgan. After miner Johnny Brown renovates his cabin, the two wed, and he sells his claim in a silver mine for $300,000. Soon after the money Molly hid in the stove accidentally is burned, Johnny discovers the richest gold vein in state history.
The film starts in Afghanistan where an APC is on patrol while the passengers, are nervous as to whether they will still be alive ("Sky Takes the Soul"), before an ambush happens. Some time later Davy and Ally, two recently discharged British Army servicemen, return to their homes and families in Edinburgh after a tour in Afghanistan ("I'm on my Way"). Ally returns to his girlfriend Liz, a nurse who is Davy's sister. On Davy and Ally's first night home Liz introduces Davy to her English friend and colleague Yvonne at a pub, where Liz and Yvonne take part in some drunken story telling, a Scottish tradition ("Over and Done With"). Following from their blind date Davy and Yvonne strike up a romantic relationship ("Misty Blue") as Ally and Liz consider their future as a potential married couple ("Make my Heart Fly").
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.
Annie Oakley (Betty Hutton), jeune fille extrêmement douée avec sa carabine est remarqué par Buffalo Bill (Louis Calhern) et intègre le Wild West Show. Pour le spectacle elle est confrontée à Frank E. Butler (Howard Keel), la star du tir à qui elle vole rapidement la vedette. Malgré la rivalité professionnelle, une histoire d'amour naît entre les deux tireurs.
In July 1912, a traveling salesman, "Professor" Harold Hill (Robert Preston), arrives in the fictional location of River City, Iowa, intrigued by the challenge of swindling the famously stubborn natives of Iowa ("Iowa Stubborn"). Masquerading as a traveling band instructor, Professor Hill plans to con the citizens of River City into paying him to create a boys' marching band, including instruments, uniforms, and music instruction. Once he has collected the money and the instruments and uniforms have arrived, he will hop the next train out of town, leaving them without their money or a band.
À la fin du XIX siècle, le territoire indien de l'Oklahoma est ouvert à la colonisation. C'est dans ce contexte que se déroule le récit qui concerne les problèmes de cœur que rencontrent les cow-boys Curly et Will avec deux demoiselles, Laurey et Annie.
After his mother, Naima, is evicted from their Baltimore apartment, teenage Langston is sent to spend the holidays with his estranged grandparents in New York City. When Langston arrives in the city, he just misses his grandparents and, shortly after, is robbed of his possessions. Entering a hotel to get directions to his grandparents place, Langston is accused of trying to take a wallet and is quickly taken in by the police. While in the holding cell, he meets a man who makes fun of him for stealing wallets. Shortly after, Langston is reunited with his grandfather, the Reverend Cobbs, who takes him to his home.
The setting is San Francisco; Joey Evans (Frank Sinatra) is a second-rate singer, a heel known for his womanizing ways (calling women "mice"), but charming and funny. When Joey meets Linda English (Kim Novak), a naive chorus girl, he has stirrings of real feelings. However, that does not stop him from romancing a former flame and ex-stripper (Joey says, "She used to be 'Vera...with the Vanishing Veils'"), now society matron Vera Prentice-Simpson (Rita Hayworth), a wealthy, willful, and lonely widow, in order to convince her to finance his dream, "Chez Joey", a night club of his own.
Although there are detail differences between the stage and movie versions, the plot is essentially based on the activities of New York petty criminals and professional gamblers in the late 1940s.
At the reading of the will of young Patrick Dennis's (Kirby Furlong) father, a trustee, Mr. Babcock (John McGiver), reveals that Patrick is to be left in the care of his aunt, Mame Dennis (Lucille Ball), as well as his nanny, Agnes Gooch (Jane Connell). Taking a train to New York City (Main Title Including St. Bridget), Babcock and the boy arrive at Mame's home, where they walk into a wild party that Mame is giving for a holiday she herself created (It's Today). Patrick asks if he may slide down her banister, then reveals his true identity. Mame introduces the boy to her friends, including a renowned stage actress (and famous lush), Vera Charles (Beatrice Arthur).
Set during World War II, the story focuses on Carmen Jones, a vixen who works in a parachute factory in North Carolina. When she is arrested for fighting with a co-worker who reported her for arriving late for work, foreman Sgt. Brown assigns young soldier Joe to deliver her to the authorities, much to the dismay of Joe's fiancée Cindy Lou, who had agreed to marry him during his leave.
Lorelei Lee (Marilyn Monroe) and Dorothy Shaw (Jane Russell) are American showgirls and best friends. Lorelei has a passion for diamonds, believing that attracting a rich husband is one of the few ways a woman can succeed economically. She is engaged to Gus Esmond (Tommy Noonan), a naive nerd willing to do or buy anything for her. However, Gus is under the control of his wealthy, upper-class father. Dorothy, on the other hand, is looking for a different kind of love, attracted only to men who are good-looking and fit.