A woman is murdered during an overnight train ride and a veteran detective clashes with young P.I. on how they are going flush out the killer. They find themselves racing against the clock when a second body is discovered.
Neal Frazer, a performer with old-fashioned ideas about women attending a Broadway show, saves the life of the star, Emily Alden. Their friendship matures into love. After marriage, Emily feels her loss of independence and Neal's restraint on her spending.
Major Baring, a retired soldier haunted by the past, lives alone in a small town. His son, Will, whom he sent away with an assumed identity, is now imprisoned after encountering serious difficulties, a fact unknown to Will's wife, Mara, or their daughter, Elizabeth. Mara continues to hope for Will's return and rehabilitation.
Richard Thorn, a wealthy young man who returns from Africa after his father's death to manage the family estate. While at the train station, he hires a taxi driven by Davis, a disgruntled man who envies Thorn's wealth and lifestyle. The story explores the contrast between the wealthy Thorn and the resentful Davis.
Asa, in love with Senneth but rejected for Essene, asks her sorcerer father, Kam, to magically force Senneth to reciprocate her love. Kam refuses. When Asa tries to poison Senneth, another sorcerer, Ram, intervenes with a 3,000-year spell of loveless rebirth.
Adams is hoping for a son the same night that "Spider" Barlow plans to make a haul at the Adams house. While Adams smokes in the library, outside "Spider" waits for him to retire. The burglar enters the house. The maid is awakened and corners him in a closet. Adams comes, and explains the need for quiet, leaving the maid on guard with a gun. When Adams goes to send a hurry call for the doctor, "Spider" relieves the maid of the gun, and taking advantage of the opportunity, rifles the house. Acting as self-appointed butler, "Spider" admits the doctor, and removing the gag long enough to give the maid three kisses, departs in the doctor's limousine with the doctor's coat and bag.
Wealthy bachelor Forest Keene lives in a mansion with his nephew Rex Booth and housekeeper Janet. Rex and Janet are in love with each other, but Keene objects to the match threatening disinheritance in the event of a marriage. Gifted with an ancient knife, Keene nods off holding it, falling into a nightmare where he sees the ruination of them all because of his obstinacy. Awakening he realizes the folly of his objections and gives his consent to Rex and Janet’s union.
Within earshot of her fiancé Leo Holmes and his friend Bruce Morgan Louise Wilke says she could never marry a man who was a drunkard. Morgan, secretly in love with Louise, gets Leo intoxicated and sends him to her home. Louise breaks off the engagement and Bruce pursues her. Undecided, she slips into a dream where she is mired in a life of misery with Morgan, who has become a worse drunkard than Holmes as well as selfish and brutal. In trying to defend herself from Bruce she kills him with a pair of shears. Holmes, a poor derelict, hears her scream, rushes to her rescue. Louise awakens and sends for Leo.
Following a cattle roundup, rancher Burton provides a holiday for his cowboys. During the celebrations, they entertain Margaret with daring feats of horsemanship for "local color" for her story. A love triangle unfolds during the festivities. May, the rancher's daughter, grows jealous of the attention Charles gives Margaret. In a moment of anger, May agrees to elope with Jack. The subsequent publication of Margaret's book, helps the couple on the ranch understand their own love story.
Ida Price has been cheated out of her share in her father's estate by her cousin Charles. She puts the appeal of the case in the hands of Judge Clark and his assistant Robert Graham. Charles tries to compromise with Ida, but she stands firm. He resorts to attempting to get the judge tipsy and delay the verdict. He fails, the former decision is reversed with Ida receiving her fair share and incidentally a husband in Robert Graham.
Tom Allen, a hardworking young miner. He cautions his wife, Beatrice, about the presence of a "worthless chap" named Joe Hills, who frequently loiters around their cabin. Hills subsequently steals Allen's gold, and Beatrice discovers him in the act.
Stuck in the desert ZaSu pratfalls her way out.
Perscilla (Zasu Pitts) holds the mortgage on Milt's (Milburn Morante) home but says she will cancel it if Milt will make his son, Ebbie (Billy Franey), marry her. Ebbie refuses and is thrown out. He goes to the big city, saves a banker from being robbed by thugs in a park, and is given a many-jobs job in the bank. He meets and falls in love with Lillian (Lillian Peacock), the banker's daughter. In his night-watchman/janitor job he keeps a gang of safe-crackers from cleaning out the bank, is given a big reward and marries Lillian. He then returns home to spurn Perscilla, pays off the mortgage and demands the best room in the house for he and his bride.
A lieutenant saves an heiress from a wicked squire and is framed for murder.
Miriam, daughter of wealthy politician John Barker is engaged to reporter George Prescott. Prescott is assigned to expose gambling conditions and discovers Barker is a grafter. Miriam doesn’t believe Prescott and breaks the engagement only to fall victim to gambling fever. When she is arrested in a raid on a gaming house her father sees the error of his ways and becomes a reform candidate of the "Clean-up" party. He wins and George and Miriam reunite.
Bank cashier Norman Stockton is falsely accused of embezzlement. He flees to the North, becomes a prospector, and his wife, Bess, follows, losing her memory after a shipwreck rescue. A lightning strike restores her memory, revealing the truth and reuniting the couple after 16 years.
Mr. Martin and Mr. Purdy, both businessmen, are tricked into believing their wives are visiting each other. While they embark on a night out, their wives actually meet at Martin's house. A thief then robs the intoxicated men upon their return, and they end up in each other's marital beds. The story resolves with explanations, reconciliations, and a shared vow to avoid such mishaps in the future.
Mark Pelton's young wife, Laura, is a drug addicted kleptomaniac. In her delirium she writes her father, John Calvert, accusing her husband of cruelly wrecking her life, then commits suicide. Calvert, knowing the truth, puts the letter aside. Ten years pass and Calvert hopes his niece Pauline will pair with Mark, but she has fallen under the charms of fortune hunter Elmer Danby and plans to elope with him. When Calvert dies, he leaves his estate jointly to Pauline and Mark, provided they marry. If one refuses, he or she forfeits all to the other. Pauline, having found the letter at first announces her engagement to Danby, forfeiting her rights but when he is exposed as a grabber and she learns the truth about Mark they wed.
Young Beth Manners ekes out a living painting china. One day she finds a shoe that had been lost by the wealthy Rodney Norton’s valet. When he tracks her down for the shoe he is instantly smitten. A rich estate is left to Rodney with the condition that he must relinquish it if the lost heir or heiress is found. Through a combination of circumstances Rodney learns that Beth Manners is the rightful owner of all his wealth. When he tells her she realizes she loves him too and they marry.
Ethel Dunne and Jack Blakeney are sweethearts, despite the objections of Ethel's father. Mr. Dunne has just admonished the young couple when he is entrapped by a flirtatious gypsy beauty. When an innocent but comprising, situation occurs the gypsy’s husband Tony appears and demands $1,000 in a designated spot to escape an Italian bomb. Ethel and Jack find the note so when Dunne leaves the money, Jack arrests Tony and banks the money to Ethel's credit. Arriving home Father Norton tells of his great bravery in foiling the designing gypsy, but Jack and Ethel reveal their part in the little comedy.