Acting
When oil is discovered just outside a small New England town, the residents go wild at the prospect of newfound wealth, and they invest their money with the head of the venture, a young man named Bruce Merlin.
Mary Brenton, daughter of wealthy Anthony Brenton, marries a man her father doesn't approve of, and they become estranged. When she tries to return home, her father refuses to let her in. Her daughter, Angele, disguises herself as a Belgian war refugee and her grandfather--not knowing who she really is--takes her into his house and, eventually, into his heart.
A young woman marries the wastrel son of a British aristocrat. Her husband, who has been disinherited by his father, loses what little money he has left gambling in casinos and then dies, leaving her penniless and with an infant son. When her former father-in-law tries to get custody of the child, she leaves him with a couple she trusts, but when she later goes to reclaim her son, she can't find the people she left him with.
Young Irish physician Peter Blood is exiled as a slave to Barbados, where he and his friend Jeremy are purchased by Colonel Bishop at the behest of his niece Arabella. With other slaves he captures a Spanish galleon and becomes the terror of the Caribbean privateers until offered a commission in the English Navy. He defeats the French at Port Royal, and as a reward he is named governor of Jamaica and marries Arabella.
Racing driver Jack Harlowe falls in love with Helen Drake, the daughter of his father's rival automobile manufacturer. Having promised his father to drive in the big race, Howes must refuse the girl's request that he drive for her father, but when he learns that another man (who has his eye on the girl) plans to drive for her father and throw the race, Howes receives parental permission to win the race for the rival.
This silent Western features Tom Mix as a rancher who goes to Washington to affect better conditions for the anonymous man of the soil. Having lost his money to some scheming lobbyists, Mix, unaware that oil has been found on his property, stakes his possessions on wonder horse Tony winning the big race.
Spaulding Nelson moves into an apartment after his uncle has been driven from it by the sounds of screams and whispers. Upon undertaking an investigation, he meets neighbor Barbara Bradford, whose sister Clara is being tormented by the recurring sounds of her dead husband Roldo's voice.
An impertinent son of a wealthy New Yorker, Roger Carr takes the blame for the murder of Norman Evans, whom Roger believes his sister Ethel shot when Evans assaulted her.
Laura Sutphen breaks off her engagement with Donald Loring because he drinks excessively and she refuses to see him socially. When her automobile breaks down in front of a friend's empty estate during a storm, Laura is forced to spend the night with Von Kolnitz, a rich foreigner also stranded by the weather.
Collegian Angelica "Trix" Varden, willful daughter of William Varden, after a midnight spread of lobster and ice cream, has a dream about an adventure on her father's ranch involving her horse Beverly, one Jack Norton, and Buck Barlow's gang of rustlers. She is expelled from school and returns home to find a handsome new foreman, who is none other than Jack Norton. Trix's curiosity is aroused by her dream, and she finds evidence of rustlers. Barlow shows up, and she locks herself in a cabin and sends Jack's horse, Star, for help. Jack finally defeats Barlow in a fight, and the two horses "realize" that they now have both a master and a mistress.
The film begins in the southern California home of Alexander MacAllister (Lawson Butt) where he is confronting Andrew Hyde (Miles McCarthy) who is accused of crooked dealings. Alexander threatens to expose Hyde, and Hyde defies him to do his worst. A banker friend tells MacAllister, "Why don't you get married?" They are interrupted by an unexpected caller on that rainy evening, a young lady, Jean Ogilvie, the daughter of a Scotsman family friend from Mexico. He puts her up and later remarks that she has dark skin for a Scottish lass. "Mexican sun," she explains. "I expected to find an old man," Jean remarks to herself.
Secret Service officer Richard Paget receives a letter from his twin brother John imploring him to take over his identity after he commits suicide, so that Richard can subvert the plans made by the airplane company which John had financed, to make defective planes for the United States to use in the war.
Country bumpkin Frank Marham comes to New York City to work in a world-famous jewelry store. At the hotel where he lives, Frank meets Ruth Gardner, a newspaper reporter who is investigating the operations of a gang of jewel thieves, as is also her admirer, detective Dan Lantry. The store's manager, Roger Imlay, is a member of the gang
Brothers James and Allen Mornington are both addicted to cocaine and both believe that their addiction is caused by a hereditary failing. James rises to the position of judge, but when Allen is brought into his court on drug charges, James resigns. The two brothers, along with James's daughter, Hilda, then retire to the country to fight their desire for drugs.
Our Western star begins this actioner rather improbably, as a New York City gangster. But soon enough he heads for the more comfortable expanse of the open spaces.
