Fred Allen

Sam "Slick" Brown (segment "The Ransom of Red Chief")

Anne Baxter

Joanna Goodwin (segment "The Last Leaf")

Jeanne Crain

Della (segment "The Gift of the Magi")

Farley Granger

Jim (segment "The Gift of the Magi")

Charles Laughton

Soapy (segment "The Cop and the Anthem")

Oscar Levant

William Smith (segment "The Ransom of Red Chief")

Marilyn Monroe

Streetwalker (segment "The Cop and the Anthem")

Jean Peters

Susan Goodwin (segment "The Last Leaf")

Gregory Ratoff

Behrman (segment "The Last Leaf")

Dale Robertson

Barney Woods (segment "The Clarion Call")

David Wayne

Horace (segment "The Cop and the Anthem")

Richard Widmark

Johnny Kernan (segment "The Clarion Call")

Joyce Mackenzie

Lee Aaker

J.B. Dorset (segment "The Ransom of Red Chief")

Richard Rober

Chief of Detectives (segment "The Clarion Call")

Fred Kelsey

Mr. Schultz (segment "The Gift of the Magi")

Richard Garrick

Doctor (segment "The Last Leaf")

John Steinbeck

Narrator

Kathleen Freeman

Mrs. Dorset (segment "The Ransom of Red Chief") (uncredited)

Irving Bacon

Ebeneezer Dorset (segment "The Ransom of Red Chief") (uncredited)