Production
James Parker and Harry Holt are on an expedition in Africa in search of the elephant burial grounds that will provide enough ivory to make them rich. Parker's beautiful daughter Jane arrives unexpectedly to join them. Jane is terrified when Tarzan and his ape friends abduct her, but when she returns to her father's expedition she has second thoughts about leaving Tarzan.
Life in 1847 Paris is as spirited as champagne and as unforgiving as the gray morning after. In gambling dens and lavish soirees, men of means exert their wills and women turned courtesans exult in pleasure. One such woman is Marguerite Gautier, who begins a sumptuous romance with Armand Duval.
Harry Holt returns to Africa with his friend Martin Arlington to head up a large ivory expedition.
A beautiful singer and a battling priest try to reform a Barbary Coast saloon owner in the days before the great earthquake and subsequent fires in 1906.
A horse breeder's granddaughter falls in love with a scheming bookie in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
A Polish countess is dispatched by her country to become Napoleon Bonaparte's mistress at the urging of Polish leaders, who feel she might influence him to support Polish independence.
Ruby falls in love with small-time con man Eddie. During a botched blackmail scheme, Eddie accidentally kills the man they were setting up. Eddie takes off and Ruby is sent to a reformatory for two years.
In 1915, German Counter-Intelligence Chief Von Sturm learns that someone is providing the British with critical strategic planning for the Turkish theater. He suspects Ali Bey, Turkish commander for the Dardanelles, and dispatches Annemarie to Constantinople to secure the proof. En route, she becomes involved with Douglas Beall, a footloose American. Complications ensue, requiring Annemarie to engage in some dangerous improvisations.
On return from Europe Dr. Decker foils glamour girl Georgi from jumping overboard. At Decker's suggestion to keep busy, she assists at his clinic in the slums.
A socialite only realises that her friend is in love with her when she falls for the wrong man.
The story of corrupt, power-hungry, manipulative Grigori Rasputin's influence on members of the Russian Imperial family and others, and what resulted.
A society girl tries to make a go of her marriage to an archaeologist.
Joe (Tearle) and Bessie (Ayres), living in sin and just scraping by. Bessie thinks Joe has stolen their meagre savings, so she leaves him and becomes a manicurist eventually marrying a wealthy man who turns out to be stingy and cruel. Joe saves heiress Marion (Mills) from drowning, makes good as a civil engineer and eventually marries her. Joe and Bessie meet again by chance and Joe, in helping her to keep her secret, incurs Marion's jealousy. Bessie, extorted by a former acquaintance in desperation, decides to tell everything to her husband. However, to aid Joe she accuses Wallace (Miljan), with whom Marion is preparing to go away. Finally, Joe and Marion are reconciled, but Bessie learns that the world never forgives a woman who sins even when she has reformed.
A managing editor sends a socialite reporter to spy on her boyfriend, mixed up in murder.
Leaving Missouri to find a wealthy husband in New York City, Eadie Chapman becomes a chorus girl and soon entertains at the lavish home of millionaire Frank Cousins. Cousins proposes to Eadie, only to then commit suicide due to bankruptcy. Fellow millionaire T. R. Paige defends Eadie when the police question her for having Cousins' jewelry -- but when she becomes enamored with his son, Tom, Paige declares Eadie a gold digger.
An almost-retired jewel thief plans to marry Helen, his partner in crime. Their plans are shattered when Bascom, a gang member, arrives with a stolen necklace, putting their whole gang at risk.
Bob Mortimer, an unsuccessful traveling salesman, picks up the wrong valise and finds it full of money. This gives him the confidence, which he has previously lacked, to convince the townspeople to invest in a new factory, prevent Josiah Wiggins from absconding with the invested funds, and marry Miriam Wiggins.
A decline in family fortunes forces Bill to become a racing car driver. His wife, Pam, has been carrying on a bold flirtation with a wily philanderer, who, tiring of her, turns his attention to a younger girl.
Billy Kirkwood, a young businessman, travels to New York City for a vacation. There he comes to the rescue of pretty young Dorothy Calender, escorting her to a taxi because she was being followed by some sinister-looking men. It turns out that the men are thieves who have seen her take an expensive diamond necklace from a store, and are following her to steal it. However, all is not quite as it seems, as Billy is soon to find out.