Heart of Twenty

Edwin Rowley is a talented but uncommercial playwright. Stephen Hunt is a successful theatrical manager. Rowley finishes a brilliant play and sends it to Hunt for production. Recognizing it as a masterpiece, Hunt puts his own name on the play and produces it, achieving fame as a playwright. Upon discovery of the theft the shock is too much for Rowley’s wife, who dies. Rowley, devastated, loses his sanity and disappears. Hunt decides to adopt Rowley's orphaned son and raises him as his own. Years later, Rowley, wandering aimlessly, sees a poster advertising his play with his own name on it. This sight brings him back to his senses. Rowley and Hunt are reconciled, and Rowley finally receives public recognition and enjoys his success as the true author of the play.

An actor, Julian Lorraine (J. Frank Glendon), mistakenly believes his wife Viola Lorraine (Alice Lake) has been unfaithful. Complications and tears and scorn follow.

Having misused funds held in his trust by investing them with his friend, Henry Lowe, Robert Reardon appeals to his future son-in-law, James Calvin, a candidate for the position of district attorney, for help. When Calvin threatens to indict Lowe for fraud if he is elected, Reardon's anger becomes so great that the engagement between Calvin and Reardon's daughter Helen is broken, resulting in Reardon's suicide. After Lowe comes into possession of a check forged by Helen's brother Jack, he uses the document to force a marriage with Helen. Treated brutally by her husband, Helen seeks Calvin's aid, but Lowe frames Calvin, now the district attorney, in a compromising situation with his ex-fiancée. Calvin is about to resign when Helen traps her husband with some marked money, causing his suicide through disgrace. Thus freed, Helen and Calvin find happiness together.

Oswald Lane is welcomed by his hometown as a war hero and enjoys recounting his adventures to anyone who will listen. He accepts an invitation to stay in the home of his rather colorless brother, Andrew, and is soon not only making love to Martha, the Belgian maid, but is also finding Andrew's wife, Hester, receptive to his flirting. After stealing money entrusted to Andrew by his church, Oswald is on his way out of town when he passes a school fire, rescues several children, and is himself seriously burned. Andrew offers his own skin for grafting, and Oswald directs Hester to return the money.

A waiter in love with a countess assumes the identity of an aristocrat.

After losing her job as a waitress, Mary Ryan is hired to work in a traveling show's chorus line by theatrical agent Leon O'Day and his partner. The agents convince a young, wealthy socialite named Seymour to finance a brand-new show. To secure the gig and the funding, they lie to Seymour and tell him that Mary is actually a Russian princess in hiding. The deception completely charms Seymour, and Mary gets her contract. Her fabricated royal status takes off when Seymour's mother invites Mary to tea, catapulting her to society stardom. However, the lie threatens to unravel when Mrs. Seymour—an avid social reformer—takes Mary and Seymour to a night court, where Mary's missing sister Rose is brought in under arrest. When Mary claims her sister, the truth is exposed, leading to a series of complications and dramatic resolutions.

Fernande marries a man and schemes to get his wealth when his expected death occurs. But he dies before he can change his will. She next tries to kill the son who inherits, but he outfoxes her.

Wealthy John Steele has a handsome young son, Frank, on whom he pins his hopes. But riches lead Frank not into social standing and duty, but into depravity, drug-addiction, criminal activity, and finally to tragedy.

A detective saves his boy assistant from a bank swindler after escaping a fire by overhead cable.

Denounced for preaching socialism Reverend Frank Gordon founds his own "Temple of Man." financed by Kate Ransom, the woman Gordon has fallen in with love and entered into a common-law agreement with after divorcing his wife. With the outbreak of World War I, however, the members of his new congregation oppose conscription while he wholeheartedly supports the Allied cause. Driven from his own church, he returns home to find Kate in banker Mark Overman's arms, enraged he strangles the banker. Sentenced to life imprisonment, his ex-wife Ruth pleads with Governor Morrison to pardon the errant clergyman. Gordon is allowed to return to his family.

Failing to get a loan from Nicholas Eyre, the Steel King and friend of his wife's father, Robert Lathrop induces his wife to beg for the money he plans to spend upon his mistress. He is given a check. Hurrying to Lola's apartments, he finds her in the arms of her lover, Haskell. In the fight that follows, Lathrop is killed and left in the park. Believing her husband to be a suicide because Eyre refused to advance him funds, the wife plans to revenge what she considers his murder, but enlightenment comes after terrible damage has been done.

Law partners, Gerard Hale and Luther Snaith, vie for a vacant Senate seat as well as the governor's daughter Marion. When Tom Shores and his sister Mary appear at the firm with the news that her two-year-old is the illegitimate child of Gerard's late father, Gerard Hale, Sr., Snaith sees the opportunity to win both the Senate seat and Marion. Gerard, feeling an obligation, gives Mary a check for $50,000. Luther has Mary and Tom seized by detectives to force an open admission from Gerard of culpability. Meanwhile, Mrs. Hale and Marion have stopped in to visit and Gerard, fearing the truth will prove fatal to his mother's ailing heart, claims that the baby is his. Mrs. Hale is confined to bed and Snaith blackmails Gerard to withdraw from the race. Mrs. Hale asks Gerard to do his duty and wed Mary. Mary wants to be truthful, but Gerard fears that may prove fatal to his mother. However, when Mrs. Hale dies, Gerard is freed from the shackles of truth.

Surgeon Crisp announces to his student doctors and friends that he has solved the problem of limb-grafting, and shows proofs. Among those deeply interested is Mortmain, a musician and a friend of the surgeon.

The picture starts with Robert Warwick walking into the office of director Albert Capellani (the film's actual director). Capellani offers him the role of a heavy and hands him the script. The next four reels show Warwick playing a Raffles-like character, an ingenious crook who moves through society, committing robberies and even murder.

Farmer Leo Bannister is obsessed with his neighbor Auriole Praed, but she finds him too strong. She travels to Paris and marries a young painter, but Bannister plots to use an actress to win her back.

Tomboy Jane Dwight’s father strikes oil on their farm and becomes smitten with young millionaire James Thornton when he comes to purchase the land. She heads off to a posh boarding school, returning a year later with fancy airs thinking it will impress James, but he preferred the original Jane. Will she realize in time to keep his interest?

European peasants Albert & Louise are separated by war with Albert only able to return once during the conflict. While he is away the enemy’s captain seizes their home as his headquarters and forces himself on Louise. When the war ends shortly afterwards Albert is overjoyed at the news of a birth of a son but begins to question when he finds that Louise has rejected the child. Forcing a confession from her about her molestation he reacts with vengeance towards the child but Louise realizing the boy is blameless acts to protect him and the three form a family.

To pick up material for his latest play, Kendall poses as a waiter at a fancy restaurant. In a twinkling, he gets mixed up with a gang of sinister foreign agents, who hope to get their hands on a noiseless explosive device

David Graham has become so absorbed in his work that he seems to have no time for his wife, Amy, and she has been having fun with Captain Guy Bracebury. Things continue this way for a while, until Dr. Meredith, the Grahams' family doctor, finds out about all this.

Author Gibbons sitting on the porch with Silas Hawkins says there is a story in everything, but the landlord disagrees. He says there is no story in the passing funeral of Good-for-Nothing Gallagher. Silas Hawkins spins a tale of lost love, bravery and betrayal, and that is the story of the funeral of Gallagher.