An American agent exchanges places in prison with a condemned British officer and brother of a woman he greatly admires and goes to the gallows.
Finding himself deeply in debt, William Newlands reluctantly marries Beatrice, the wealthy daughter of an old friend. When their honeymoon train is derailed, Beatrice loses sight of her husband but manages to save the life of mine owner Steven Crawford. Newlands is reported burned in the wreck and Beatrice returns with Crawford to his cabin, where she nurses him back to health. Meanwhile, Newlands has escaped death and, filled with remorse, decides to make a new man of himself. Disguising his appearance by the addition of a beard, he finds work at the Crawford mine, but determines to stay out of Beatrice's life. Eventually, Newlands becomes foreman, brings law and order to the discontented miners and discovers a rich vein of ore, thus averting Crawford's financial ruin. His job completed, Newlands is about to leave when Beatrice recognizes him and begs him to give their marriage another chance.
Billy is released after five years in prison. In the next moment, he kidnaps teenage student Layla and visits his parents with her, pretending she is his girlfriend and they will soon marry.
In the Jacobite Rising of 1745, the Young Pretender Bonnie Prince Charlie leads an insurrection to overthrow the Protestant House of Hanover and restore his family, the Catholic branch of the House of Stuart, to the British throne.
Goodnatured J. P. Fippany loses his home and takes to the road on a chicken-wagon with his wife and daughter. The wagon is wrecked in an automobile collision involving Jimmy Pickett, who falls in love with daughter Aida, and through a misunderstanding involving Marseillaise, Fippany's racehorse, his wife Josephine and Aida go to live with relatives. The disconsolate Fippany sells Marseillaise to Jimmy's father, sends the money to his wife, then disappears. Meanwhile, Jimmy finds Aida and convinces her of his love. Marseillaise, badly driven in a race, loses a heat, but Fippany emerges and rides her to victory, following which there is a reconciliation between husband and wife.
Against the wishes of Cecelia, his wife, the Reverend Eric Norton leaves his position in a fashionable New York congregation to preach in a poor mining town.
While working his way through college, Paul Potter acquires a flock of wealthy friends who encourage him to give up his hometown fiancée, Sylvia Castle, for Muriel Evers, a flirtatious married woman. After Sylvia releases Paul, and Muriel's husband divorces her for infidelity, Paul and Muriel marry. Meanwhile, when Sylvia's father dies after being ruined in the stock market, she goes from one job to another in the city until she tries acting in a stock company. There she befriends Henry Leamington, an alcoholic leading man, who, as he tutors her, falls in love and stops drinking because of her. When Paul discovers Muriel's unfaithfulness, he renews his acquaintance with Sylvia, who still loves him.
Lelia Crofton, a Louisiana belle of the 1860s, loves Burleigh Mavor. By chance, she sees one of her father's black stablemen making love to a neighbor's maid, whom she supposed was white. The incident shocks Lelia and leaves a great impression upon her. When she rejects suitor Steve Daubeney, he threatens to expose a damaging secret about her mother, whom she has never met. Remembering the incident with the neighbor's maid, Lelia worries that her mother might be black, and when Daubeney learns of her fears, he leads her to believe that they are well-founded.
After a stirring performance, Cleo Martell, a renowned stage actress, is visited in her dressing room by Gordon Trent, a too ardent admirer. When Cleo's husband enters, a fight ensues, and Trent kills his rival in the struggle. Jack Stanley arrives on the scene to help but is accused of the murder by Cleo and is sent off to prison. The opportunistic Trent marries Jack's rich fiancée Helen Forde, who believes that her former lover is guilty of unfaithfulness. Jealous of the arrangement, Cleo eventually tells Helen the truth about the killing, causing Betty, Helen's daughter, to cry over her mother's unhappiness. Moved by the girl's tears, Cleo joins forces with Helen against Trent, and the two women go West where Jack, escaped from prison, works as a cowboy.
A son tries to overturn the disgrace of his father, who committed suicide.
Therese Roger, daughter of a West Indian planter, whose parents are murdered while she is a baby, becomes the adopted daughter of her aunt, Madame Roger, keeper of a haberdashery shop in one of the smaller villages in southern France. She grows up with Camille, Madame Roger's son, a sickly, sexless creature, whom she ultimately marries in deference to her aunt's wishes.
A blackmailed ex-thief is executed for a murder he didn't commit.
Political graft collector, David Power forced by the district attorney to leave New York takes cabaret singer Hebe Norse with him. Showing talent in a variety of professions, Power is eventually hired by a great steel manufacturer, Gail Rogers. He falls in love with Rogers' daughter Rosalie, and they marry happily until Rogers returns home with a new wife…. Hebe Norse. When Rogers discovers Hebe's past, the two men sever ties as does Rosalie. Vengefully Rogers tries to ruin one of Power's companies without success. Ultimately Rosalie forgives Power and they and their young daughter are reunited.
Even though he disapproves of the harshness with which his father, the Colonel, treats his employees, Wayne Craighill joins the old man's mining business. Adding to the strain between father and son, Wayne soon falls in love with Jean, the daughter of a small mine owner whom the Colonel wants to put out of business.
An assassinated Lord's daughter refuses to marry a Chinese prince but agrees to be his mistress.
Montgomery Seaton, one of the idle rich, pays more attention to his friends' business than to his marital situation.
A man writes a check for $1,000 to cover a gambling debt. The problem is that he doesn't have enough money in his bank account to cover it. The check was written on Friday afternoon, but cannot be cashed before the following Tuesday. The check is used to pay several debts until...
An attractive heiress, Carla (May McAvoy), and David (Ralph Graves), a successful artist, fall in love following an automobile accident. and are married. Their idyll is interrupted by a misunderstanding and she gets a Reno-quickie divorce. Years later a chance meeting brings them together.
When illegal card dealer and recovering heroin addict Frankie Machine gets out of prison, he decides to straighten up. Armed with nothing but an old drum set, Frankie tries to get honest work as a drummer. But when his former employer and his old drug dealer re-enter his life, Frankie finds it hard to stay clean and eventually finds himself succumbing to his old habits.