When her husband Fred goes bankrupt, Lily Morton is forced to give up the trappings of wealth and move into a humble home while Fred attempts to fight his way back to prosperity. Resentful of her modest circumstances, Lily accepts her friend Marion Garland's offer to introduce her to Mrs. Farington, a woman who will pay handsomely for Lily's escort services. Lily goes to work for Mrs. Farington while her unsuspecting husband struggles to regain his former wealth. While managing an apartment house for one of his wealthy clients, Fred visits Mrs. Farington, a tenant, and, noticing a framed picture of Lily, asks to be introduced to the girl. Mrs. Farington arranges the rendezvous, and when Lily arrives, she is confronted by her enraged husband who chokes her to death. At this moment, Lily awakens from her nightmare, and chastened for her superficiality, begs Fred for forgiveness.
In the Latin Quarter of Paris, Mimi earns the nickname "The Mad Dancer" and poses in the nude for a sculptor named Serge Verlaine. After her father commits suicide, Mimi travels to the United States to live with her American relatives. Her new family heavily disapproves of her past and insults her for having posed for Verlaine. Unwilling to tolerate the abuse, she walks out and moves to Washington, D.C. In D.C., Mimi secures a new life and becomes engaged to Keith Arundel, the son of a United States Senator. Her hard-earned respectability is jeopardized when her bohemian past threatens to catch up with her and expose the details of her life in Paris.
"Half-breed" trapper Jacques LaRouge is infatuated with Memory Baird (Fritzi Brunette), the daughter of the owner of the trading post. When fugitive Joseph Treffery (Captain C.A. Van Auker) happens into town, Memory hides him from the police.
The story of a poor young woman, separated by prejudice from her husband and baby, is interwoven with tales of intolerance from throughout history.
A perverted town mayor murders a young girl and, overcome by guilt, commits suicide. Based on the short story La petite Roque by Guy de Maupassant.
Geoffrey Brooke, an African explorer, becomes a friend of Rodney Miller, a struggling young artist. Through his influence Miller becomes celebrated. Brooke is called to the Congo, leaving behind his bride of a few months. Miller is about to despair of finding a suitable model for his supreme artistic effort, a painting of Circe, the temptress, when Cleo, a bewitchingly beautiful woman enters and offers to pose for it.
Duplicitous Patricia Chase schemes to break up the new marriage of Margery and Wallace Graham because she yearns for Wallace despite her marriage to another. She nearly succeeds but the revelation of a secret thwarts her at the last moment and she gets her just desserts shortly after.
When housewife Trina wins the lottery, her comfortable life with her dentist husband John slowly deteriorates, in part by her own increasing paranoia and partly by the machinations of villainous acquaintance Marcus.
Crooked gambler Eddie Kane induces his estranged wife, Poppy, to help him blackmail Brownlow Clay, the owner of a clean-cut gambling establishment in Tijuana. The plan involves Kane "discovering" Poppy in Clay's private apartment to demand hush money. During the setup, Poppy finds herself genuinely falling for Clay. Overcome with remorse and ashamed of her part in the "badger game," Poppy chooses to protect Clay and double-crosses her husband instead. With Kane's plot defeated, Poppy and Clay are free to marry and start a happy future together.
Paul and Rhoda Remsen, having marital difficulties, separate; and each is awarded custody of their child Peggy for 6 months of the year. Rhoda and Peggy move to a farm town, while Paul remains in the big city to write a play for actress Inez Lamont, who is in love with him. Peggy knows that her mother still loves Paul, so she flees to the big city to explain the situation to her father.
The dashing but arrogant Prince Michael Fedor Lubimoff has to flee Tsarist Russia after falling into disgrace and settles in Monte Carlo, where he resumes his life of debauchery while World War I ravages the fields of Europe… (Partially lost film; reels 3 and 9 of a total of 11 are missing.)
A movie star helps a young singer-actress find fame, even as age and alcoholism send his own career into a downward spiral.
His Eyes
After a harsh argument between her and her father, a young girl with artistic talent leaves home for a new life.
The son of a poor fisherman and the daughter of a wealthy landlord fall in love, but meet with obstacles to being together. Their happiness meets with objection by her father, who intends to permanently separate them.
Margot Brising spends the summer in the countryside with her aunt, Mrs. Börje. There she reunites with her childhood friend Gustav, Mrs. Börje's son, who is a naval officer. They fall in love with each other.
William H. Thompson plays a likeable old lighthouse keeper who must contend with his less likeable fellow villagers. One of Thompson's acts of kindness is to bless the "scandalous" romance between hero and heroine.
Molly and Me
Princess Marusya fell in love with Dr. Toporkov, the doctor who had treated her, but he failed to notice her affection and married a wealthy merchant’s daughter. Several years later, called upon to treat Marusya once more, at last her deep feelings melt his hardened heart... but it is far too late: Marusya is dying.
Behind The Doors Of The Salon