Although Esther Whitaker is in love with Caleb Tilden, her sea captain father demands that she marry his first mate. However, Esther's grandfather encourages her and Caleb to marry in secret. After Grandfather Whitaker's death, Esther discovers she is pregnant. The captain, believing that she has disgraced the family, beats Caleb to death (at least that's what he assumes) and drags his daughter along on the ship. Afraid of the consequences, the captain refuses to go home and eventually the crew mutinies.
Donald Gray, living with his mother in Scotland, through the friendship of the family physician, is offered an opportunity to go to America to study medicine. He leaves with his mother's blessings. Five years later, Donald is a physician with a successful practice in New York City. One of his patients has grown very fond of him; at the same time the young physician has grown fond of this gentleman's daughter, and is engaged to be married to her. His mother resolves to pay him an unexpected visit.
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.
Ranch hand Jack Harlan comes to the aid of his girlfriend’s father when his ranch is threatened by an outlaw gang led by a woman known only as "The Hellion".
Joe Henry, head of a one-ring circus, plays a small town and after the departure of the troupe a young girl, fascinated by the prospects of being a star, follows. She is engaged and her presence causes jealousy on the part of Joe's sweetheart.
A young woman of humble origins hides her family's lack of wealth and prestige from her boarding school friends.
In a jewelry store, Grace Norris, a wealthy girl, unnoticed by the salesman, absent-mindedly takes a vanity case. She is seen by Fred Wright, who thinks she stole it.
The Fankony Cafe
Bessie Barriscale and Nigel Barrie play Ellen and Gibbs Josselyn, a young married couple who have spent several years in Europe while Gibbs, an artist, developed his talent. When they return to the States, they stay with Gibbs' father (Tom Guise) and stepmother (Kathleen Kirkham). Gibbs had never cared much for his stepmother, Lillian, but now he warms up to her -- a lot. Lillian is much younger than her husband and begins spending a suspicious amount of time with her stepson.
Twilight
Society girl Constance Bailey becomes a schoolteacher in New York's Lower East Side, telling her fiancé, Bruce Van Griff, that she is sailing to Europe.
A respectable Paris jeweller becomes engaged to a celebrated performer of the Montmartre cafes.
Janet Randall, a department store clerk who longs for a fling at high society, ignores the love of the poor but honest Dan Cassidy. When vacation time comes, Janet goes to a fashionable hotel and there meets her idol, society favorite Monte Moreville. Upon requesting the bill at the end of four days, Janet discovers that the tariff is more than she can afford, and Monte comes to her rescue by offering to bail her out. In exchange, Janet must pose as his wife to fend off a woman who is threatening a breach of promise suit.
Count Camello lives on his fine estate in Italy, near the home occupied by Sir James Drake and his family. Gregory Baldi, a parasitical cousin of the count, is courting Mary Drake, and although the count also loves the girl, he conceals his feelings out of respect for his cousin. When war breaks out, Camello enlists while Gregory convinces Mary's brother Oliver that Oliver has killed an opponent in a duel and that the only way to escape a murder charge is to disguise himself by going to war under Gregory's name. Wounded, Count Camello returns from the front and, after Gregory is reported dead, proposes to Mary. On the eve of their wedding, Gregory returns unexpectedly and, in dire need of money, buries his cousin alive in the family vault.
Rebecca Butler, tired of poverty, takes a job in a Broadway chorus line and determines to marry a millionaire.
Shortly after the engagement of John Brown and Hope Avery is announced, he receives an offer of a fine position in South America. She demurs at his going, but he overcomes her objections and after a tender farewell, leaves her with the promise to return within a year and make her his wife. Philip Lane is injured in an auto accident near the Avery home, and Hope discovers him. She has him taken to her home and during his convalescence, he falls deeply in love with her.
Based on the poem of the same name by Alexander Pushkin.
Ezra Hickman, of Kankakee, is a political aspirant. At a reception in Washington with his wife and daughter Amy he meets the Ambassador of Selim Bey, the ruler of a small European kingdom, Vergania. The Ambassador, seeking an American girl for his ruler, paints a glowing picture of Vergania to Hickman's wife, with the result that she persuades her husband to accept the American Consulate at. Vergania. Amy, the daughter, is enamored of Lieutenant Brice of the U.S. Navy, and reluctantly she agrees to leave him and go with her family.
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.
After being orphaned and rejected by her reluctant relatives, Aunt Martha and Judge Trent, Sylvia Lacey is sent to live at a Maine farm managed by a kind man named Thinkright. While there, she becomes captivated by a deserted, shuttered Tide Mill, believing only love can "open its shutters." Sylvia eventually discovers a passion for painting and falls in love with John Dunham, the Judge’s law partner. Though she initially believes John is engaged to her friend Edna, he eventually confesses his love for her. In the end, John surprises Sylvia by revealing he has purchased the Tide Mill and converted it into a professional art studio for her, fulfilling her metaphor that love would finally open the mill's shutters.