Temptations of a Great City

The inspirational true story of a woman who decides to bake 100 apple cakes and sell them at $40 each in order to save her home – and how this idea completely changes her and her family.

Marie, in her forties, lives in the Hautes-Alpes, cut off from her relatives. She only has her lover, Alex, a border policeman. Thanks to him, she smuggles cigarettes between Italy and France for her ' get out. On her way to France, she bumps into Mouneer, a 20-year-old Sudanese migrant, determined to join his little sister. He guesses her trafficking and persuades her to bring migrants across the border.

Yvonne, proprietor of a Paris gown shop, marries Pierre, a poor artist, concealing from him an affair she had with Rigaud, an elderly boulevardier who bought the shop for her.

Liz, just returned home after a mental breakdown, has to welcome a relative stranger into her home when Caitlin, a young, vivacious woman, claims to be her husband's daughter.

Behind in the mortgage on Sunnybrook Farm and barely managing to feed seven hungry mouths, mother sends young Rebecca off to Riverboro to be raised by her wealthy Aunt Miranda. The little girl is treated like a prisoner by her strict Aunt, yet she gamely does her best to get an education. When spoiled girls at school mock the spirited Rebecca as "missy poor-house," she soon makes them come to eat their words. Despite many difficulties, Rebecca manages to help the less fortunate and spread joy in Riverboro, dreaming that her reward will come when she is "all growed up." This version is notable for having been adapted by famed female screenwriter Frances Marion.

An ambitious New York socialite plans an extravagant dinner party as her businessman husband, Oliver, contends with financial woes, causing a lot of tension between the couple. Meanwhile, their high-society friends and associates, including the gruff Dan Packard and his sultry spouse, Kitty, contend with their own entanglements, leading to revelations at the much-anticipated dinner.

Nineteen-year-old Laura is stressed by her first year at college when money worries distract her from her studies and so, desperate for cash, she answers an online advertisement for intimate companionship that leads her down a dangerous path.

When Anna Wyncomb is introduced to an underground, all-female fight club in order to turn the mess of her life around, she discovers she is much more personally connected to the history of the club than she could ever imagine.

A slice-of-life story unfolds inside The Florentine, a bar in a Pennsylvania steel town whose brightest days are behind it, leaving behind many of life's disillusioned "losers." Its owner, Whitey, is deep in debt to the town's loan shark, Joe McCollough, and desperate for a path forward which won't cost him the bar. His sister, Molly, is days away from her long-awaited nuptials, and then her former fiancé, Teddy, shows up in town for the first time since leaving her at the altar years before. Ne'er-do-well Billy Belasco runs a con on Frankie to steal the money for the wedding caterer, while long-time regular Bobby becomes a patron-cum-inhabitant as he hides from his fast-crumbling marriage to Vikki. Every plot in this multi-layered story seems to be at its nadir just as a pair of unlikely heroes emerge out of the backdrop to turn everything around.

Sylvain, an Afghan veteran living off of petty crime, crosses paths with Nathalie, an upper-class CEO struggling to keep her lawnmower company afloat.

Citizens across Europe who used to belong to the lower middle class have fallen into poverty. An in-depth investigation into the precariat, a new social class of financially insecure citizens who, although they are employed, find it very difficult to make ends meet.

Sarah and Tom are in terrible financial trouble. On the brink of losing everything, they’ve managed to find a buyer for their stylish London home. When their best friends Richard and Beth come round for a final dinner, an uninvited old friend, Jessica, tags along.

A romantic girl, influenced by a popular magazine, has a series of brief adventures with her ambitious cousin, her gay cousin, her neighborhood's electrician and a distant aunt, which will land her from myths and dreams to reality.

A story of two sisters, the older being more traditional, the younger a "moga" ("modern girl"). Their widowed father runs the family sake shop, but is running into financial trouble, causing him to tamper with his stock; Meanwhile, his long-time mistress yearns for something more serious. Amidst this, the older sister is introduced to a well-off suitor: A university boy, much more intrigued by the less traditional little sister. A doddering grandfather, an officious uncle and busybody neighbors also don't make the lives of the hardworking members of the family any easier.

The protagonist learns that his friend needs a large sum of money in currency for an operation abroad. In the meantime, the country is in the midst of an economic crisis: currency and commodity shortages, rising prices, and multiple exchange rates. In these conditions, not only the amount of money, but also the currency becomes a problem. To collect and convert the necessary funds, he attracts childhood friends and suggests taking a risk by using a "black" currency scheme. But is everyone ready to sacrifice personal comfort and plans for the sake of saving the life of even a loved one? It turns out that in a crisis you can lose as well as gain, but who and what, it remains to be seen....

Adapted from a popular 'three dime novel' the story revolves around two down-and-out buddies, one streetwise and quick-witted the other naïve and kind-hearted. This oddball duo go through up and downs and eventually get their break in life.