Desperate for work, Johnny Barclay leaves Ma and Grandpop to join the newly formed Civilian Conversation Corps. On the way he meets cynical young hobo Roscoe "Rockie" Johnson, and, although Rockie believes that hopping freight trains is a great life, Johnny convinces him to join the Corps.

The Old-Fashioned Way follows a theater troupe as they navigate romantic crushes, misunderstandings, and the challenges of the theater world. With a wealthy widow, a con-man, and a vaudevillian snake oil salesman in the mix, hilarity ensues.

A secretary catches the eye of her amorous boss while her regular boyfriend keeps trying to propose marriage to her.

Elissa Landi and Charley Chase host an East Asian themed garden tea party in Hollywood. After introducing a few Hollywood luminaries who are attending the party, they present a number of musical and/or dance performances to entertain the crowd. This set of performances also includes ethnic Chinese actress Anna May Wong modeling some fashions she brought back from her first ever trip to China. Through it all, one of the guests, already inebriated, is having a few problems mixing and serving the cocktails he wants.

A detective who has "four hours to kill" before delivering his prisoner, an escaped killer, spends the time in the lobby of a Broadway theater where a musical is playing. The film focuses on the relationship between the two men, and also between various characters in the theater audience, staff and cast.

A young girl runs away from her carnival family to make it in New York and becomes involved with a young songwriter.