Acting
In early 19th century England, ambitious and ruthless orphan Rebecca Sharp advances from the position of governess to the heights of British society.
Mr. Danbury, a theatrical manager, is visited by Ellis Harcourt, who seeks a position with one of Danbury's companies. Danbury tells him that, since he is unknown to him, he must prove his ability to act before being given any encouragement. Danbury takes a vacation, and invites some of his friends to go for a cruise with him on his yacht. One of his guests produces the latest edition of the Animated Grouch Chaser.
Five down-on-their-luck miners in Circle City, Alaska gather at a local hotel, desperate to recoup their depleted finances. MacDonald, a former football star, suggests they buy an insurance policy on whichever man draws the fatal ace. At the end of the year, that man would commit suicide so the remaining four could collect the payout. MacDonald purposefully draws the ace, but soon after discovers a gold vein in his mine. He abandons the suicidal insurance plan and shares his newfound wealth with the group. The fortune also saves a woman named Emily—who traveled to the harsh north to marry a man who turned out to be broke—and she begins a romance with MacDonald instead.
Dr. Claude Drummond, a young English doctor in India, saves Ameia, a young girl, from being sacrificed to the priests of the temple of Krishna by buying her as his wife. Returning to England upon the death of his elder brother, who was the heir to the estate, Claude finds that his father has arranged a marriage between himself and Olive Dennison, the daughter of the Major-General. To please his father, Claude is about to submit to the marriage, although neither he nor Olive love each other, when Ameia arrives from India. Discovering that her existence is a barrier to her husband's advantageous alliance, Ameia takes poison but is saved by an antidote administered by Claude. It is then discovered that Ameia is actually the daughter of Major-General Dennison, by a native wife whom he had deserted. Thus, Claude finds it possible to be true to his love and to his father's wish that he marry the general's daughter.
Thrown out of his dad's house without a penny to his name, playboy J. Dabney Barron is told not to return until he has proven that he can keep a job for an entire month. After several false starts, our hero is hired to keep flighty heiress Betty Arden out of trouble. He not only succeeds but manages to get his hands on a valuable jewel that has long been coveted by his father.
Short western melodrama. A cash-strapped operator is working far from his beloved. A criminal and his accomplice trying to force him to cooperate with the cause of a train crash.
Ralph Valentine, a penniless pianist, goes to Paris to pursue his career. He is attracted to two women: Pauline, the sweet and innocent daughter of his landlady, and Flora Margot, a woman of loose morals who runs with a wild crowd. Because of his irrational passion for Flora, Ralph makes a bargain with Satan, who gives him a magic skin which gratifies every wish and shrinks, along with the well-being of its possessor, in proportion to the number of wishes realized. Ralph tries in vain to rid himself of the skin after Pauline commits suicide because of his vices. Just as the devil comes to lead him into hell, Ralph awakes with the skin in his hands in an antique store where he had gone to buy a necklace for Flora. He throws down the skin, and runs to Pauline and professes his love for her, happy that he had been only dreaming.
William Baldwin, ruined in business by his partner, John Blaisdell, implores Blaisdell's aid, and receives in answer a five-dollar bill across the face of which is written, "Spend this for a gun and use it on yourself."
Natali, a Hindu, marries an Englishman, Sir Christopher Madgwick. They have a daughter who is kidnapped by Natali's former suitor Sani. The girl is handed over to be trained as a vestal virgin. Natali dies and Madgwick returns to England, taking with him the precious ruby that Natali had snatched from Sani in a struggle. Years pass; Sir Christopher remarries and has two more children who mistreat him and Sani dies, revealing to the priests the location of the ruby, which he stole from them in the first place.
In her first Paramount film, Billie Burke plays Helen Wentworth, an heiress who's bored with the high life and decides to enjoy a bit of the low life.
