John Gage loves Ruth West, but she marries his friend, Charles Grey. The young couple are apparently happy; a child is born to them. Suddenly Ruth discovers that her husband has been systematically robbing his employer. Threatened with imprisonment unless he refunds the money he has stolen, Grey is at his wits' end.
Hiding from the police in an alley, two crooks see, through a window, the dying miser entrust to the doctor the fortune he bequeaths to his erring son. They trail the doctor home, overpower him, and in their search for the money, terrify his wife and child.
Out of the talk at the Sportsmen's Club arises a wager between the globe-trotter and his friend, who bets that he will not be able, within a fixed time, to find his way out of an isolated mountain location to which he will lead him.
Two road agents hold up the stagecoach and rob the passengers. In making their getaway, one of the road agents is shot by the stage driver. They stop at a lonely cabin, where a miner's widow lives with her little daughter, and ask for aid.
Hard pressed for money, the broker has appropriated funds of the firm, and dreads his partner's discovery of the deed. He tries in vain to borrow money, and determines to end his life after writing a confession. In the act of placing a pistol to his head, he is interrupted by a message informing him that oil has been discovered in the vicinity of his land
The discontented wife of the young rancher does not realize that the unsatisfactory state of things is her fault. She has not ceased to love her husband because she has not yet begun to love him. His tenderness and courtesy antagonize her.
Old Man Hathaway was a trapper and lived with his only daughter in the mountains. Pretty Claudine often went forth to visit the traps with him and one day, when no bound, they saw a youth kiss a maiden affectionately. Seeing a chance for an object lesson, the old trapper sagely shook his head, saying, "My child, such kisses are poison. Guard against them."
A royal princess gives her time to the Red Cross, and works alongside a young American doctor.
A beautiful woman of the Latin Quarter, marries a rich cattle owner Pedro Maurez from South America to live in peace and happiness. The arrival of young Parisian Paul Durand wets her interest again in the old haunts of Paris. When her husband is slain in an uprising of laborers, she is again thrown on her own resources.
A poor man steals a loaf of bread to feed his family, not knowing there's a stolen diamond hidden inside.
Success is often coveted instead of honestly earned. Through honest effort the farmer was enjoying the fruits of his labor. A large irrigation well was among his new acquisitions. Therein his designing helpers held him prisoner while they left with his wealth and his daughter. There is an old saying, however, that an evil purpose always defeats its own end by some committing act.
The Closed Chain (German: Die geschlossene Kette) is a 1920 German silent film directed by Paul L. Stein and starring Pola Negri, Aud Egede-Nissen, and Carl Ebert.
The girl's lessons from the young station agent on the manipulation of the telegraph code served her in good stead. By it, hemmed in on all sides at the lonely farmhouse, she was able to save both herself and her father's money from desperate tramps, an experience which is grippingly illustrated in this Biograph melodrama.
Bessie, the bookkeeper, and Harry, the confidential clerk, are sweethearts. Harry does not fully realize the strength of Bessie's affection, but later, on the eve of a false step, he is made to appreciate her devotion and grit.
Author David Marshall is sandbagged by holdup men and loses his memory. He finds his way to a bookshop run by his friend Ladd, who takes him in with the hope of helping him to regain his memory. David there meets Hope Masterson and falls in love with her. Bill Dorgan, a gangster in love with Hope, kidnaps her, and David comes to her rescue. David is hit again on the head, and this time he regains his memory. He still recognizes Hope, however, and they look forward to a long and happy life together.
Margaret has given up her stage career to marry inventor Jerry Benson. Jerry fails to impress oil executive William Graves with his idea, but Margaret has better luck when she catches Graves' attention and she both makes the sale and becomes the object of Graves' obsession. Profits from the invention make the Bensons wealthy; however Graves schemes to steal Margaret from Jerry by swindling them out of their money and getting Broadway floozy Gloria to break up their marriage.
Theron is Lavina's natural choice, though she imagines herself in love with Luke, who is secretly loved by Lavina's sister, Susan. Susan sees that the couple are ill-suited to each other and adopts her own means to break the match. She is successful, but it is not until all have passed through a stirring and leavening experience that each couple realizes they were meant for each other.
After a lifetime of hard work, Dad consents to live with his married daughter in the city. The young couple try to make him forget work. Ill at ease under his enforced idleness, he makes a deal with a disabled old street cleaner to keep his job. Finding him out, the young folks give in, and it's "back to the farm" for Dad.
On the day of the meeting which should settle the controversy regarding the Panama Canal, the Japanese Embassy commissioned Olga to obtain a copy of the agreement. The young Secretary to the Secretary of State became her dupe, but the detective succeeded in recovering the stolen treaty by a clever unwinding of threads taking thereby a desperate and thrilling chance.
In this film one is shown the contrast of two fathers. One father refuses to believe his son guiltless, while the other, fully realizing the weakness of his son, struggles to save him from further disgrace. In this attempt he exonerates the innocent youth, but at the same time exposes the guilt of his own son.