Anonym

Five O. Henry stories, each separate. The primary one from the critics' acclaim was "The Cop and the Anthem". Soapy tells fellow bum Horace that he is going to get arrested so he can spend the winter in a nice jail cell. He fails. He can't even accost a woman; she turns out to be a streetwalker. The other stories are "The Clarion Call", "The Last Leaf", "The Ransom of Red Chief", and "The Gift of the Magi".

The teenage Jirka (J. Procházka) likes to spend time with his aunt (Š. Ranošová) in a secluded village. He does not feel comfortable at home. His mother (J. Vaňková) and stepfather Ivan (P. Pelzer) scrape together every penny to save up for an expensive kitchen set and a Persian carpet. His mother is not very fond of his aunt and does not like Jirka's visits. On her next visit, the aunt gives Jirka her husband's carpentry tools. Jirka meets Jakub (M. Holub), an old carpenter, who helps him repair an old kitchen sideboard. Jakub shows the boy how precious wood the sideboard is made of. The two become friends. However, their mother is about to throw the sideboard away

Set in the Spain of 1680, a time of torture and interrogation by the Grand Inquisitor. A young man appears that is healing the sick and raising the dead. There are rumours that he might be the second coming of the Messiah. He is brought before the Grand Inquisitor. Though questioned and tortured, he chooses to remain silent.

An introspective dentist's suspicions about his wife's infidelity stresses his mental well being and family life to the breaking point.

Angus is a large, pathetic 14-year-old whose thoughts are most often filled with the image of only one girl, Melissa Lefevre. Angus is shy and thinks that he has no chance of ever 'getting' her. Being especially uncool, he is incredibly surprised (along with the rest of the school) that he is chosen to dance with her at the Winter Ball. The only one not surprised is the cool kid who set him up to fail, but Angus' best friend is going to help him win the heart of Melissa by developing a new look for him

Young Jeremiah lives in a stable environment with loving foster parents until the day his troubled mother, Sarah, returns to claim him. Jeremiah becomes swept up in his mother's dangerous world of drugs, seedy hotels, strip joints and revolving lovers. Salvation comes in the form of the boy's ultrareligious grandparents, but soon Jeremiah's mother returns. Maternal love binds the pair together on the road until Sarah's desperate and depraved lifestyle finally consumes her.

Three childhood friends, Martha, Walter and Sam, share a terrible secret. Over time, the ambitious Martha and the pusillanimous Walter have married. She is a cold businesswoman; he is the district attorney: a perfect combination to dominate the corrupt city of Iverstown at will. But the unexpected return of Sam, after years of absence, deeply disturbs the life of the odd couple.

Soon to be a father, Mark feels the pressure of domestic responsibility closing in, so he is more than happy to accept when his old friend Kurt proposes a camping trip in the Oregon wilderness. During their time together, the men come to grips with the changes in their lives and the effect on their relationship.

Intercutting dramatic vignettes with newsreel footage, the story follows the characters from an infantry squad as they make their way from Sicily to Germany during the end of World War II.