Private eye Jake Gittes, living off the murky moral climate of sunbaked, pre-war Southern California is hired by a beautiful socialite to investigate her husband's extra-marital affair. Gittes is swept into a maelstrom of double dealings and deadly deceits, uncovering a web of personal and political scandals that come crashing together for one, unforgettable night in Chinatown.

A supposedly peace-loving community is shaken when the daughter of one of its white settlers is accused of being an Indian.

At the start of World War I, German imperial troops burn down a mission in Africa. The mission's clergyman was so overtaken with disappointment that he passes away. Shortly after his well-educated, snooty sister Rose buries her brother, she must leave on the only available transport, the 'African Queen' steamboat. The boat is manned by the ill-mannered bachelor, Charlie. Together they embark on a long difficult journey, without any comfort. Rose grows...

Julie Marsden is a Southern belle in pre-Civil War New Orleans with a knack for manipulating the men in her life. Scorned by the man she loves, she lashes out in revenge and destroys lives in the process.