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Policeman Charlie Lang (Nicolas Cage) is a kind and generous man who loves his job and the Queens borough of New York City where he lives. Bo (Wendell Pierce) is Charlie's partner and together they work to maintain the peace in their neighborhood. Charlie is a good listener and loved kids. Charlie only wanted to help the community and never shied away from helping where he could (helping a blind man cross the street, teaching kids how to play baseball, catching petty thieves, delivering a baby on the public bus and so on) His wife Muriel (Rosie Perez) works in a hairdressing salon and, unlike Charlie, is selfish, greedy and materialistic, constantly complaining about their situation in life. Muriel hated Queens. Waitress Yvonne Biasi (Bridget Fonda) is bankrupt because her husband Eddie (Stanley Tucci), whom she could not yet afford to divorce, emptied their joint checking account and spent all the money without her permission, while also leaving her with a credit card debt of over $12,000. The court holds her responsible for the entire bill; moreover, Yvonne's boss docks her pay for the time she spent in court, even though Yvonne gave ample notice. Charlie meets Yvonne when she waits on him at the diner where she works. Since Charlie has cash to cover the bill but doesn't have enough money to pay the tip. So, he promises to give her either double the tip or half of his prospective lottery winnings the next day. Yvonne is sure that she will never see Charlie again in her life. Charlie wins a $4 million share of $64 million (in 21 annual payments) in the lottery the next day (as 16 other people picked the same numbers) and keeps his promise, despite the protests of his wife. Muriel sees this as an opportunity to become a spokesperson for her favorite beauty products. Muriel asks Charlie to do the right thing for them, but he is adamant that he gave Yvonne his word. Charlie returns to the diner and asks Yvonne to choose if she wants double the tip or half of the lottery (without telling her that he won the lottery). Yvonne goes for the split of the lottery and Charlie reveals that it is $4 million. Yvonne believes that Charlie is making fun of her string of bad luck, but he convinces her that they won $4 million in the New York State Lottery. For Charlie, a promise is a promise. Charlie and Yvonne become stars almost immediately. Yvonne buys the diner she was working in and promptly fires her ex-boss. She sets up a table with Charlie's name at which people who cannot afford food can eat for free. In another development, Charlie becomes a hero for foiling an attempted robbery at a grocery store but gets wounded in the process. Following a commendation, he takes mandatory leave from the NYPD. At a gathering on a chartered boat for the lottery winners and other members of high society, Muriel gets to know the newly rich Jack Gross (Seymour Cassel). She flirts with him and develops a strong liking for him, which is mutual. Both Yvonne and Charlie miss the cruise because he had to go and make change for her taxi driver and bond over dinner. Meanwhile, Charlie and Yvonne spend a lot of time together, on one occasion paying for the train journeys of passengers of the subway, and on another treating the children of his neighborhood to a day out at Yankee Stadium, about which there is a media report. Muriel gets fed up with Charlie's constant donations and overall simplicity and throws him out of their apartment, asking for a divorce. That same evening, Yvonne leaves her apartment after her husband shows up and threatens to stay until he gets $50,000 from her. Quite innocently, Charlie and Yvonne run into each other at the Plaza Hotel and, unintentionally, end up spending the night together. During divorce proceedings between Muriel and Charlie, Muriel demands all the money that Charlie won for herself. Charlie doesn't mind giving his share of the money but Muriel also wants the money he gave Yvonne, and Charlie's steadfast unwillingness to do so causes Muriel to take the case to court. The jury decides in her favor. Yvonne, feeling guilty at costing Charlie all his money, runs out of court in tears and tries to keep away from him. But the cop, by now hopelessly in love with the waitress, finds her at the diner and tells her that the money means nothing to him, and they declare their love for each other. While ruminating about their future at the diner and considering a possible move to Buffalo, they are gracious enough to provide a hungry and poor customer some soup, which he eats at the Charlie Lang Table. The poor customer is none other than the disguised undercover photojournalist Angel Dupree (Isaac Hayes), who takes photos of the couple and in the next day's newspapers publicly eulogies their willingness to feed a hungry and poor man even in their darkest hour. Just as Charlie and Yvonne are moving out of town, the citizens of New York City, no doubt touched by the generosity of the couple, send "the cop and the waitress" thousands of letters with tips totaling over $600,000, enough to help pay their debts. After Muriel gets remarried, her new husband Jack Gross flees the country with all the money from their checking account, revealing himself to be a con man. She then has no option but to move in with her mother in the Bronx and go back to her old manicure job. Eddie Biasi, now divorced from Yvonne, ends up becoming a taxi driver. Charlie happily returns to the police force and Yvonne reclaims the diner. At the film's end, Charlie and Yvonne get married and begin their honeymoon by taking off from Central Park in a hot air balloon that bears the New York Post headline "Cop Weds Waitress".

A biography about the love affair between 1930s Hollywood superstars Clark Gable and Carole Lombard.

A screen adaption of the blistering best-seller which examines the story of platinum blonde bombshell Jean Harlow (Carroll Baker) who rose to fame in the reckless Hollywood of the 1930s. In this story, Jean Harlow (Carroll Baker) starts in the movies as set dressing, the pretty girl who is used for the glamor shots. Refusing to descend to the casting couch for work, she finds that she is soon blacklisted from the industry. But an agent named Arthur Landau (Red Buttons) sees something in Jean and begins representing her. For a long time, the jobs are scarce and consist mostly of receiving the pie in the face in low budget comedies. But Arthur's belief in Jean never wavers and when she finally graduates to featured roles, the critics say that she cannot act, but she is unforgettable. Polishing the image as the girl next door, but with some fire, she begins her climb to the top and becomes the girl every woman wants to look like and every man wants to have. But her own life is a disaster - unlike her screen life. —Tony Fontana <tony.fontana@spacebbs.com>

In Tanganyika in the 1950s, the Momella Game Company captures animals for zoos and circuses using off-road vehicles, lassos, and cages. The company consists of Frenchwoman Brandy De La Court (Michèle Girardon), the unofficial "boss" (her father also died while trying to capture wild animals out in the open); tough Irish-American Sean Mercer (John Wayne), who heads the catching expeditions; retired German race car driver Kurt Müller (Hardy Krüger); Mexican Bullfighter Luis Francisco Garcia Lopez (Valentin De Vargas); Native American sharpshooter Little Wolf (aka "The Indian") (Bruce Cabot); former NYC cab driver "Pockets" (Red Buttons), who has zoo-phobia; and several native staff. While pursuing an aggressive rhinoceros, Kurt and The Indian ride in a small herding car, which they use to force the animal toward a larger catching truck. The rhino gores The Indian in the leg, and the crew makes the five hour journey to Arusha hospital. French marksman Charles "Chips" Maurey (Gérard Blain) arrives, eager to take the Indian's place in the crew, but Kurt, offended (as Kurt blames his own driving for the injury to the Indian), punches him. Chips later turns out to be the only one present with the blood type required to save the Indian's life; he agrees to undergo a transfusion, and Sean offers him a job (after Chris makes Kurt ask him nicely). Back at their compound, the crew finds Italian photographer Anna-Maria "Dallas" D'Alessandro (Elsa Martinelli), who has been corresponding with the Indian. They are surprised to learn that "A.M. D'Alessandro" is a woman, but she shows them a letter saying she has been sent by the Basel zoo, which is Momella's biggest client, so Sean reluctantly lets her accompany the crew as they capture a giraffe. Despite many rookie embarrassments (She insists to stand up in the truck bed, when Sean warned her off rough ground. Dallas spends most of the hunt on her back), Dallas enjoys her first day. She later offers to leave if she is not wanted, but all but Sean vote to have her stay. Pockets has fun with Dallas after he sends their pet leopard into the bathroom where Dallas is taking a bath and then pretends to "rescue" her. But he is caught out when Sean and Kurt intervene and take the pet leopard away. Later Pockets reveals that he is actually very scared of animals. He used to drive a cab in New York and just pretends that he is in rush hour, to be able to do his job. Pockets also explains that Sean almost got married once and the girl broke his heart by running away just before the wedding. He says Sean is afraid of loving a girl again, so if he is mean to Dallas, that means he likes her. Chips arrives at the compound; after a rifle-shooting contest (Chips matches Kurt shot for shot), he and Kurt become friends. The gang visits a local watering hole (a real African hole in the ground from which the Masai tribe extracts its water).. They go on a zebra hunt, a black-buck hunt together. As time goes on, Dallas and Sean begin to develop feelings for one another, though Sean, having previously been jilted by his fiance, resists. Brandy is pursued by three suitors-Kurt (he shares kisses with Brandy, who considers him Uncle Kurt), Chips (who bathes animals with her), and Pockets. The Indian, still shaken by his experience, is released from the hospital, and Sean agrees to not pursue any more rhinos until the end of the season. On a multi-day trip, the crew passes through a village where a rogue female elephant has been killed by a game warden. They find her orphaned calf, and Dallas adopts it despite Sean's protests. Sean says the calf hasn't been weaned yet and is going to die out of hunger in 2-3 days anyways, but Dallas is adamant. Chaos ensues when the rest of the crew helps Dallas gather goats to get milk for the calf (The goats run away when the calf nears them), though they eventually succeed. Dallas feeds the calf with her own hands, as that's the only way to get some food into it. That night, Dallas apologizes to Sean, and finally seduces him into giving her a kiss, though Pockets inadvertently interrupts and ruins the moment. Over the next few days, the gang captures a leopard and a buffalo. Chips saves Kurt from a crocodile. Kurt is thankful to Chips, but they still both pursue Brandy equally. There are some funny moments when Kurt has to get the ostriches back into their pen. Sean does a minor surgery on a fawn. Later, Dallas finds another orphaned elephant calf. The local Waarusha tribe, impressed by how the elephants follow Dallas, arrange a ceremony for her, adopting her into the tribe and naming her "Mama Tembo" ("Mother of Elephants"). Dallas' new title is confirmed when a third elephant calf makes its way to the compound. Dallas teaches Pockets how to dance and helps him get close to Brandy. The crew capture a zebra, an Oryx, a gazelle, a leopard, and a buffalo without incident, but, while pursuing wildebeests, the herding car blows a tire. In the ensuing accident, Kurt's shoulder is dislocated and Chips' leg is badly sprained. The same day, Pockets falls off of a tall fence. He only bruises himself, but Brandy shows the most concern for him out of the three, indicating which suitor she has chosen. Pockets devises a way to catch a huge Vervet monkey troop all at once by using a rocket to cover a whole tree with a fishing net. To the surprise of everyone, including himself, he succeeds, which makes a rhino the only animal left to catch. The crew finds an angry bull rhino, and, although it manages to get loose once, they finally capture it without anyone getting hurt, much to The Indian's relief. The season's work done, Dallas begins to fear Sean will always see her as he saw his treacherous fiance, so she writes a goodbye letter and flees. Sean, with the help of the rest of the crew and the three baby elephants, tracks her to Arusha, and they reconcile. Sean and Dallas are married, and prepare to spend their wedding night in Sean's room; however, the three elephants barge in and destroy the bed.