Peer Gynt - Part 1: Peer Gynt’s Youth

John and Tom Wilkins are brothers and most divergent in natures. John is a clergyman and a noble, upright fellow, while Tom is a scapegrace, wild, reckless and unscrupulous. Not having the parental guidance so essential in youth, his father being dead and his mother blind, he drifted into bad company, the contaminating influence deeply affecting his susceptible nature.

Terry O'Farrell pulls off several rescues in the course of the plot, whose locale is a steel mill, and Ann McGreagor uses her common sense to expose the villain's trickery and save the day for her sweetheart.

Folly Vallance marries millionaire Anthony Bond for his money, but he insists on a marriage in name only. Entering the social scene she befriends Bond's close friend Keene Mordaunt. When Count Svensen tries to extort Folly into running away with him, Keene pursues them to a country house where they meet Anthony, who accuses his friend of treachery. Folly finally recognizes her love for her husband and explains the cause of her actions; Bond forgives her leading to their reconciliation.

Jo Morey, who lives in the St. Lawrence River Valley, inherits her father's barren farm and devotes her entire energies to cultivating it and caring for her invalid sister. Henry Langley meets Jo and proposes marriage to her. She asks him to wait until she is free, but Langley refuses and marries Mary Malden. Eight years later Jo has paid off the mortgage to Captain Longville, and one night she finds a baby in her house; it is Langley's, and a note requests that its parentage be kept secret.

Danny O'Rourke is the son of a police officer who was killed in the line of duty. Eager to join the police force, Danny fails his exams. The failure causes him to neglect his sweetheart Maggie, whose father is a police lieutenant. His attentions turn instead towards society girl Miriam Welton. When Danny’s sister, Shannon, is arrested for shoplifting, Danny turns to boxing to save her. He works his way towards the championship but discovers the final bought has been rigged. Danny fights anyhow and he is beaten, but it is discovered that a mistake had been made on his exams and he actually was eligible to join the police force after all. Considered a lost film.

When a mayoral candidate finds out that he will be exposed in a newspaper article, he goes to the political boss who put him up for the job and says he wants to quit. Enraged, the boss pulls a gun on him, and the man promptly dies of a heart attack. The boss stages a fake car "accident" to make that look like his cause of death, but a suspicious newspaper reporter decides to look more deeply into the story.

Alice Davis and Charles Turner are arrested for petting in an automobile and marry on impulse.

Gamblers Dave Hume and Ed Felton are rivals for the love of Babe Lennox, a chorus girl. Hume informs on Felton, and though the latter is arrested he is released on bail, and Talbot, the attorney, warns Hume to stay clear of him. Hume, who is in ill health, determines to commit suicide, making it appear that Felton killed him; and (concealing a record of his plans on a small statuette) he makes a wager with Felton that he can do so.

Club pianist Ted Mason writes a love song for Beth Barton. A rival named Goldie steals the song for her husband, Steve, to publish. Beth faces unfair blame from her friends and teacher because of the popular song. Ted proves he wrote it by creating an even better song, exposing the theft, and winning Beth back.

A small town girl goes to Hollywood with ambitions of becoming major dramatic star. However, the melodrama she appears in is unintentionally amusing and becomes a comedy hit.

Hugh Payne owns and operates a mine in the West, supporting his brother Larry's luxurious life style. Hugh has nurtured Abby Hope, a young girl with whom he has fallen in love. When Larry comes to visit, he and Abby decide to get married, and to spare Abby's feelings, Hugh pretends that he is infatuated with another woman.

A Spanish soldier falls under the spell of a fiery gypsy girl named Carmen. His obsession with her leads to his ruin.

An Orphan’s Cry

Marie Tyree, a hotel stenographer, falls in love with Archie Small but is disillusioned when he is lured away by a wealthy widow and resolves to trap for herself a wealthy spouse. At a business convention, she makes the acquaintance of Bert Woodmansee, reputedly worth millions, and captures him after a brief courtship.

The Talbots, formerly one of the Eastern Shore's first families, have gone to seed: Pap is a drunk, soddenly decaying in his ruined ancestral home, and three of his sons (William, Carol, and Ezra) are lazy, shiftless young men. Mulligan, Pap's second son who supports the entire family by oyster fishing, falls in love with wealthy Anna Lee, but when he first kisses her, she calls him "white trash."

Unscrupulous politician Mark Stetson frames Mr. & Mrs. Brandon and their friend Antoinette for a smuggling racket he runs. Upon their release they swear vengeance and after Stetson once again tries to incriminate them, this time in a plot against a rival politician, justice is theirs.

When burlesque dancer Elois Murree gives birth to her daughter Yvette, she sends to a fashionable boarding school away from the stage environment and her drunken husband. Yvette visits infrequently but during one sojourn Murree slashes Elois' left eye in an argument forcing Elois, now veiled, to perform billed as the Masked Queen. Yvette becomes attracted to her friend’s brother, Rex, she avoids him after she learns that he wants his prospective bride to come from a good family. Yvette becomes a burlesque queen, but a distraught Elois tries to kill her to save her soul and then commits suicide, leaving the bloodied knife in the hands of her drunken husband, who then is arrested. Later, Yvette finds happiness with Rex.

John Bird and Franklyn Fordham were once business partners, but because of Bird’s shady dealings they part. After years of success for one and failure for the other, Bird takes drastic measures, resorting to arson before his scheme is thwarted.

Geological expert John Leighton naïvely introduces his flirtatious wife Emily to his boss, W. G. Griggs. Griggs sends John to the Graypeak district to prospect for quarries and is soon involved in an affair with Emily. While in the mountains, John rescues Enid Arden from an attack and she falls in love with him. Returning home John discovers the affair and leaves Emily. Emily and Griggs go to Europe to avoid a scandal and while there start divorce proceedings. But Griggs’ philandering ultimately costs him his life and Emily tracks John to Graypeak. Although she tries to win John back a fateful train ride clears the way for John and Enid to face a happy future together.

Hosiah Howe struggles to earn his living on a farm that lies in the shadow of a wealthy summer resort. Visiting the resort are Dr. Rand, his daughter Virginia, and a scoundrel named Ward Andrews. One day Andrews stops at the Howe farm and discovers that the land contains water with a highly-exploitable medicinal value. Smelling money, Andrews convinces Dr. Rand to buy an option on the farm, then runs away to the city with Hosiah's innocent sister Martha.