Milt Kimberlin is a down-on-his luck horse owner, but Rosalie, a cabaret performer (the lively and engaging Clara Bow), doesn't care -- she turns down the fancy jewelry offered by oily Frank Gorman for a wedding ring from Kimberlin. Even though his finances never improve, Rosalie sticks by her husband only to sicken and die in a garret. Kimberlin's luck changes almost overnight and he becomes incredibly wealthy.
A determined copy boy achieves his aspiration of becoming a journalist after unearthing the hideout of a criminal gang.
Trooper O’Brien
A married man suddenly inherits a fortune and finally has enough money to live his dream of becoming an artist. He moves his wife and daughter to a big expensive house and starts living the life of a "bohemian" artist. When he begins an affair with another woman, his wife leaves him and his daughter Alicia breaks off her engagement to a wealthy doctor and becomes involved in the "free love" movement espoused by one Herbert Rawlins. Rawlins, however, has his own plans for Alicia, and they don't involve "sharing" her with anyone else. Complications ensue.
Adele has grown up in a tenement, but she longs for greater things. She gets her chance at the stage when her mother runs into an old friend, Blanche. Blanche has been working steadily in the theater, and she helps Adele get work. The young girl finds romance with Vincent Harvey, an aspiring composer. One day Adele suffers an accidental fall out of a window.
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.
A spoiled rich girl from England encounters a wonderful young man who, unfortunately, has no money. Will love or money win out?
In a futuristic city sharply divided between the rich and the poor, the son of the city's mastermind meets a prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences.
The story of a poor young woman, separated by prejudice from her husband and baby, is interwoven with tales of intolerance from throughout history.
Only six months of marital bliss and Lillian Josselyn is filled with dread at the return of Pierre Marchand, her former lover, who left her to marry Ellen Latimer.
Frank Prentiss, a multi-millionaire who hates and distrusts women, convinces his adopted son, Jack, that they are detrimental to a man's success. The overworked Frank is forced to rest at the country home of his friend, Mr. Gray, where he meets and falls in love with the host's daughter, Kate. She refuses his proposal at first, but later accepts because her father, who has two younger children, is experiencing financial difficulties. Following the wedding, Kate is subjected to Frank's verbal abuse and seeks solace with Jack. Their friendship enrages Frank, who tortures them with his accusations. During a dinner party, Frank accuses Jack and Kate of being lovers in front of the male guests. Jack is restrained from accosting his father, but Frank suffers a fatal heart attack. Later, Jack and Kate fall in love and are married.
Two friends, Fritz and Theodor, make the acquaintance of Christine and Mizzi, who are also friends. Fritz is immediately captivated by Christine, who is bashful and modest as opposed to the eager, effervescent Mizzi. But even though the love between the two grows, Christine is not the only woman in Fritz’s life. His affair with a married woman will prove to have fatal consequences.
A movie star helps a young singer-actress find fame, even as age and alcoholism send his own career into a downward spiral.
Ilda Barosky, a Jewess whose father was killed by Russian soldiers, is a violin student in love with Alexis Nazimoff, son of the Russian aristocracy. Alexis' father arranges a marriage of convenience between Alexis and Olga Karischeff, the daughter of the ambitious minister of police and attempts to shame Ilda at the betrothal celebration. Defiant, Ilda is whipped before the entire assembly. Alexis rushes in to rescue her and terminates his engagement to Olga. In retaliation, Karischeff sentences both Ilda and Alexis to ten years in Siberia as his last official act. The couple attempt to escape their Siberian captivity, are caught and face a firing squad until Count Nazimoff, who has assumed Karischeff's position as minister of police, arrives with a pardon. The couple return home, and the penitent count finally grants them his blessings.
Abandoned on the church steps at birth Jacques Revilly is a pariah in his small hamlet finally heading to Paris to fulfill his dream of being an artist. After three years he has become quite adept but due to his slovenly ways and appearance he has been nicknamed “The Beast” and is once again exiled among society. One night he discovers a young girl who has collapsed in the roadside snow, with the assistance of his one friend Varney they nurse her back to health and “The Beast” begins to mend his ways.
A young author, Everett Dryden Hale, has written a book of such strength and originality that it becomes one of the best sellers. The book is entitled "Waifs" and deals with the underworld, a subject of which Hale, who is a New Englander with a Puritanical strain, knows by personal experience, practically nothing at all.
Claire Curtis, Jimmie Strong and Mary have spent their childhood together in the country. Upon reaching adulthood, Claire goes to New York and becomes a success on stage. Jimmie, who has always dreamed of becoming an inventor, goes to New York to sell the machine he invented, and there he renews his acquaintance with Claire. Soon their old friendship ripens into love. Meanwhile, back in the country, Ralph and David Harding, who are making Jimmie's machine, plan to steal the right to it. Back in New York, Mary appears and informs Claire that she loves Jimmie, and the actress resolves to give her a chance to win him. When it appears that the Hardings' scheme to steal Jimmie's machine will succeed, however, Mary's ardor turns cold. Claire and Jimmie then rush back to the country in time to avert the takeover and save his firm from bankruptcy.
A bank clerk forges a check to help his girlfriend's father. He's found out, but instead of being arrested he becomes a member of a gang of forgers.
When Richard Cameron, a secret service agent tracking down international spies, is kidnapped by the enemy, Mirian Somerset, to whom Richard has been surreptitiously married, believes that he is dead.
Hester Prynne's forced public shaming in a strict 17th-century Puritan colony. She wears a scarlet "A" for having a child out of wedlock while her husband is missing and her lover, a minister, hides his involvement.