1928
In a banana republic, way south of the Texas border, a dumb-Dora American girl, Norma (Olive Borden), lets her ruby-red lips promise more than she is willing to deliver, and she finds herself a prisoner in a notorious dance-hall/brothel. But her American aviator boyfriend, Barry Blake (John Boles), is flying to her rescue. He does just that but, alas, they are quickly captured by a gang of outlaws. Possibly the many expensive pieces of jewelry she has gathered from the many male friends she has made along the way, including El Presidente, captured the outlaws' attention.
1927
A high-society woman, Glenna Marsh (Dorothy Revier), is arrested for the murder of gigolo-gambler Cole Norwood (Norman Trevor), but his honest casino partner Peter Dane (Tom Moore) proves her innocence.
Blinded in a train accident James Driscoll (Holmes Herbert), whose wife, Miriam Driscoll (Belle Bennett), has been having an affair with his young male secretary Phillip Kingston )Carroll Nye), regains his eyesight. He keeps this from his wife, who continues her affair. Finally, he invites his young niece Nancy Driscoll (Josephine Borio) in the hopes she will fall for Philip and vice-versa. His ploy works, James reveals he can see again, and husband and wife are reconciled.
1931
The story centers on a sordid love triangle involving a woman and two men. Their personal tensions and romantic complications reach a breaking point just as the local infrastructure fails. The climax of the film occurs when a massive dam bursts, unleashing a catastrophic flood. This disaster serves as the ultimate resolution for the characters' interpersonal struggles, forcing a conclusion to their conflicting relationships through the life-and-death stakes of the inundation.
1916
Wealthy Jack Stimson (Jay Belasco) falls in love with Broadway diva Velma Vrooman (Gretchen Lederer), and for her sake bankrolls the musical production in which she is currently starred. But when Velma proves to be fickle and unreliable, Jack shifts his affections to humble chorus girl Bobbie (Louise Lovely).
Very wealthy Bettina is also very reluctant to get married. She changes her mind in a hurry when she meets Reynaud, the nephew of Abbe Constantin, the poverty-stricken religious leader of the small French village of Longueval.
Gabrielle Picard (Elda Hall) and Pierre Dupont (Rupert Julian) are lovers in a small French village in the early 1870s; Gabrielle's brother Anatole (Kingsley Benedict) is Pierre's best friend. The two young men are called to service by their country and go to Algiers. Anatole becomes the bugler and one day when he is commanded to sound the retreat, he sounds for the troops to charge instead. Anatole becomes a hero because of his action, but when the two men make their victorious return home, they find the Picard home ransacked and Gabrielle gone.
Diminutive heroine Ella Hall dreams that she's Cinderella, and that a wealthy gentleman of her acquaintance (played by Leonard) is her Prince Charming. All of this takes place during a musical stage production of Cinderella, a sequence distinguished by its authentic backstage atmosphere.
1918
A criminologist and a government agent team up to expose a ring of German spies.
Paris vamp Ernestine Bergot, posing as wealthy Englishwoman Sarah Brandon, goes to work on aging Count Ville Handry after first warming up on Malgat, a banker whom she ruined. Ernestine convinces the count to marry her despite his daughter's strenuous objections and then gains complete control of his fortune. Her steady milking of his funds makes the count decide to kill himself, but just as he is about to do it, Malgat, who has managed to catch up with Ernestine, exposes her to the authorities. Then, instead of the count, it is Ernestine who commits suicide rather than submit to arrest. A lost film.
Olaf writes his memoirs, before his execution. He tells of his life as a struggling farmer when Renie, stranded in the village, stays one night in his home and Olaf falls in love with her.
