Mercury Plains

Heated tempers, frustrated desires and dashed hopes plague a diverse group of individuals whose lives cross paths in Mexico City. There is the bar-owner's son, Chava, who yearns to emigrate to America. A poor barber, Abel, is madly in love with the gorgeous Alma, who eventually becomes a high-class prostitute. Finally, there is Susanita, the desperate spinster who pursues many love affairs in hopes of finding a husband.

Just as sex, drugs, rock & roll, hippies, and Vietnam enter our consciousness, so it does for Ben Sweet, the shy, 18-year-old son of conservative businessman, Sy. Ben enters UC Berkeley in 1966 to avoid the draft, but finds himself smack in the middle of a home-grown revolution.

Teresa has a frayed relationship with her girlfriend Veronica. Teresa's attempts to stay close to her are thwarted, which will lead Teresa to make a decision that will completely change their lives.

A man on the run takes another man's passport, only to find himself stuck with the identity of a street hustler.

Dr. Karl Sternau, the personal physician of the count Bismarck, who spent much of his youth in Mexico, is sent back to that country during the occupation by French troops in the service of the Austrian 'Emperor' Maximilian, to carry an encouraging letter from U.S. President Lincoln to the nationalist Mexican president Benito Juarez.

Mexico, 1864. The country is divided by the struggle against the French occupation and emperor Maximilian. The German doctor Karl Sternau and his friend Andreas Hasenpfeffer come to love the country and support the cause of the proud Mexicans.

A woman's panicked decision to cover up an accidental killing spins out of control when her conscience demands she return the dead man's body to his family.

When housewife Frances Hannon is abducted and buried alive, detective Madeline Foster is brought in. With only 24 hours before Frances' oxygen runs out, Madeline pursues the trail laid by a killer calling himself Harry Houdini. After capturing him, Madeline brings Harry back to the police station, but is unable to get him to confess where Frances is buried. As time runs down, Harry gets inside the head of unstable, alcoholic Madeline.

An ex-con takes a job driving a truck cross country. What he doesn't know is that the truck is filled with illegal weapons and now he must fight to survive and save his family.

Vince Hackett's gang steals a prized victory canon from Mexico and blames the deed on ex-member Jess Wade, who wants to go straight.

Brother and sister Enrique and Rosa flee persecution at home in Guatemala and journey north, through Mexico and on to the United States, with the dream of starting a new life.