The backdrop is fifteenth century France, and Charles, Duke of Burgundy has promised his daughter, Princess Mary, that she can marry the man she loves, Prince Maximilian of Styria. But when the Swiss threaten war, the duke is compelled to take back his word and he arranges for Mary to wed the half-witted dauphin of France's King Louis XI .
A young girl is forced to give up college when her father loses all his money. She soon meets and falls for a young man at a party, only to discover that he's married. As if that weren't bad enough, he is soon seriously injured in an automobile accident, and doctors say that he may never walk again.
To relieve the burden placed on their mother, Alice Sturgis (Wanda Hawley) marries and has several children, while her independent sister, Jeanette (Mae Busch), goes to work as a stenographer. Eventually, she is forced to marry a persistent salesman to avoid a scandal. Becoming disillusioned with married life, Jeanette leaves the salesman, but after 3 years' separation she realizes her need for a family and returns to him.
A general store clerk and aspiring detective investigates a mysterious disappearance that took place quite close to an empty insane asylum.
When Dorothy wants to marry Bob (Robert Agnew), her mother, Mildred, forbids the match. Dorothy angrily asserts that Mildred might reconsider if her own mother had forbid her marriage. The rest of the film is a flashback, as Mildred recalls her own youth, when her dictatorial mother did forbid her to marry Lyman. Lyman enlisted with Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders to fight in the Spanish-American War, but was killed in battle.
Jamil, a soldier in the Bedouin defense forces during a war between Syria and Turkey, deserts his regiment but later returns to save children of a missionary’s orphanage who are at risk of being enslaved or killed by the Turks.
A young woman, Margaret Dauncey, is caught between the forces of a charlatan magician, Oliver Haddo, whom she is unable to resist, and the love of a handsome surgeon, Arthur Burdon, who has saved her from being a helpless cripple by performing a delicate operation on her spine.
Gritzko, a prince of pre-World War I Russia, is the ultimate ladies' man. Women fall at his feet -- all except for a young but cold British widow, Tamara Loraine. While she's spurning his advances, Tamara is growing ever more fascinated with Gritzko.
It is 1774, the eve of the American War of Independence. Janice comes from a Tory household. She cavorts with American and British alike, is pursued by Charles Fownes, patriot and friend of General Washington.
Paul Granville becomes a famous painter for his portraits of great women as modeled by the beautiful Joline Hofer. When one of Paul's paintings appears to result in a miracle, Joline's life is changed forever. She leaves her previous life to live one of service and piety, a decision that ultimately saves Paul's life.
The story of two baby girls, born near in proximity but worlds apart in society: Molly Helmer, the daughter of a thief, and Florence Banning, the daughter of the judge who sent Molly's father to prison. The girls' lives come together as they reach the age of eighteen, when Florence leaves the security of the exclusive Girls Select School, and Molly, now orphaned, begins her life after reform school.
Jean and Marise, young lovers forced from their homes, flee to Paris. Irrevocably separated there, their lives deviate into the slums and hard labor of low-class French society. All the while, the two desperately search for one another.
Familiar story of spoiled heiress, Blanche Sweet, who dabbles in romance with commoner Ronald Colman. They roam the highlands together hunting since this is Sweet's "sport." They seem to have an idyllic affair going when into the mix comes an impoverished prince (Lew Cody). He determines to steal away the heiress and pay off his creditors. Indeed, this is the plan he shares with them.
A young girl is seduced and raped by an older middle class man in Victorian England. After moving on with her path, she gets married. All is well until her husband discovers her past. Leading her on a life of wandering, murder, and execution.
Julian (Percy Marmont) is a poor artist who lives with wife Edith (Alice Joyce) and their newborn baby in Harlem. Struggling to make ends meet, he foregoes his artistic calling and draws for magazines. Reaching his limits, Julian convinces his wife he could reach higher grounds if he were to go to Paris. He moves to Paris while his Edith works at a shop on Fifth Avenue. Each of their lives evolves differently—Edith is courted by a wealthy suitor whom she ignores while pining for her husband, while Julian fails to meet his goals in Paris, returning defeated three years later. The meeting highlight how different their routes have been.
Jeffrey Dwyer is a writer and a poet who wrestles with the conflicts between his idealism and his passion. The two sides of his nature are personified in the women he loves: the sweetly innocent Joan Converse, and the sexy, charismatic Inez Martin.
Tim Kelly is an orphan who runs away after his orphanage burns down. Presumed to be killed in the fire, he is able to roam the streets of New York freely. He meets Max Ginsberg, an old Jewish junk dealer with rheumatism, and the two strike a partnership and a close friendship.
Alone and unprotected in an isolated wilderness cabin, Ruth Jordan is discovered by three drunken brutes who begin to barter for her. In desperation, she appeals to Stephen Ghent, the least degraded of the desperadoes, promising herself to him if he saves her from the others. Ghent buys off Shorty with a chain of gold nuggets and knocks Dutch senseless. Ghent then sends Dutch off with Shorty and takes Ruth to the next town, where he forces her to marry him. During the 3-day ride across the desert to Ghent's gold mine, the idealistic Ruth learns that he is a man of rough passions.
The only known copy of this film copy was reported to have been destroyed in the 1967 MGM Vault fire.
While burgling a mansion, Blackie is interrupted by little Joey, who has been awakened from his slumbers. Blackie gently orders the kid to return to bed, but Joey refuses to do so unless Blackie helps him say his prayers. Thus is formed a strong friendship between Blackie and his "little pal," inspiring our raffish hero to rescue Joey's mother Rosemary Theby from a scandalous situation.