Acting
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).
This exotic adventure drama was based on the novel, The Daughter of Brahma, and went through at least one title change before reaching the screen as Shattered Idols. Jean Hurst, the widow of a British Army officer in India, hates her crippled son David because she thinks he is a coward and a weakling. She sends him away to England for his education. When he returns to India, he falls in love with native girl Sarasvati, who he saves from being burned on a funeral pyre.
Beverly Arnold is a secretary in the law firm of John Cumberland and Stephen Gray. Both men court her, but Beverly succumbs to the charms of Gray. With her help, he writes a bestselling novel which leads him to give up his law career. After their marriage, Beverly continues to aid Gray with his writing, bringing a touch to his work that makes him famous. Gray, however, in his conceit, becomes bored with his wife and divorces her for Hedda Kossiter, a vampirish artist. Beverly, freed from Gray, becomes a literary success in her own right. Gray, anxious to win her back, is dismayed to discover that her heart has turned to his former partner, John Cumberland.
When Donald Bayne, known in the North as The Wolf, loses his cabin to Steve Nolan in a backwoods court, he threatens and thrashes the new owner, then leaves him to tend to his traps. Upon his return, he discovers that Nolan has been killed in a shooting accident and that Bess Nolan, his niece, has moved into the cabin with Rose, her sister's child. Unable to evict her, The Wolf camps out next to the cabin, but soon realizes that this act has compromised her honor in the town. To correct the situation, he forces her into marriage, but she maintains a safe distance from him. When Bess's sister and "Snaky" Burns, her brother-in-law, kidnap Rose for use in their criminal activities, Bess implores Donald to intervene.
Young squire Jasper Hugh Lovel is wrongfully accused of a crime and sent away to the penal colony at Norfolk Island. Back in England, a woman who deeply loves him refuses to give up hope. She successfully works to secure his official pardon. Once cleared, the two are joyfully reunited. The historical melodrama is notable for featuring a dramatic, high-stakes duel sequence.
William Bryant, a hopeless invalid due to a profligate life and made vicious by the fact, lives to make life a misery for his wife Margaret. One evening Bryant's physician, Dr. Cameron arrives at his patient's house, just in time, to intercept a blow that Bryant has directed at Margaret and knocks him unconscious in the ensuing struggle. Margaret flees with Cameron, observed by the chauffeur who enters the house with the intention of stealing. Meanwhile Bryant has regained consciousness and in his twisted mind determines to kill himself and frame his wife. He’s almost successful until at almost the last moment his butler steps forward and acknowledges that Bryant was shot as they struggle with his pistol which the chauffeur confirms.
Aspiring author Johnny Rutledge believes in taking things easy. When he gets evicted for giving his last $10 to a fellow writer, Anne Travers, he sets out on a wild mission to stop her from marrying a fraudulent suitor and win her fortune.
En route to Australia, beautiful authoress Alice Gordon (Louise Lovely) is shipwrecked on a desert island in the company of wealthy book publisher John Meeson. Sensing that his days are numbered, and lacking pencil and paper, Meeson tattoos his last will and testament on Alice's lovely back.
A mother raises her six children and one by one lets them go out into the world. Their failures and successes fill her life, but she grows lonely without them. Then when one of the children has a surprise to announce, they all return home to be with their mother.
A man's life is ruined by the treachery of someone he once thought was a close friend. Enraged, he determines to track the man down and get his revenge. He follows the culprit over two continents and across the ocean, and when the ship sinks he finds himself washed up on a desert island with his nemesis and a beautiful young woman.
John and Katherine Colby decide to put off parenthood until he has become wealthy. Their friends, Tom and Grace Donaldson, decide to start a family right away. While John works his way up to a position of power at a steel firm, Katherine begins to question the wisdom of their decision.
Looking through the window of a little Northern Woods church John Carver watches Nan, the woman he once loved become the wife of Julio Cumberland, the most prosperous citizen in the village. Pursued by Mountie Private Dick Osborne, of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police, who loves Nan's new stepdaughter Dorothy, recognizes John and takes Nan aside to warn her. Julio reacts to this aggressively attacking Dick and leaving him unconscious. Later Nan is found dead, and suspicion points to the officer as her murderer until John is captured and admits his guilt when Dorothy prevails upon him to save the happiness.
In Singapore, Captain Robert Anstruthers protects his friend, Colonel Costabel, from a scandal involving the Colonel’s wife and Lord Ventnor. When Robert intervenes, Ventnor frames him for harassing the wife. To shield her innocence, Robert stays silent, is dishonorably discharged, and becomes a sailor under an assumed name.After a shipwreck, Robert saves Iris Deane, the ship owner's daughter. While surviving on a deserted island, they fall in love. When a rescue party arrives—led by Ventnor, Iris's suitor—Ventnor tries to discredit him. However, the Colonel's wife confesses the truth back in Singapore. Cleared of all charges, Robert is restored to his military rank and reunited with Iris.
Mining engineer and rancher Bruce Andrews marries Eastern visitor Isabel Hollins, stirring jealousy in rival mine owner Edmund Rawn and his partner Burton Mortimer, who both desire Isabel, leading to clashes over land, romance, and unscrupulous business practices.
A story of the early days of the Australian goldfields.
While traveling out West, John Maddox rescues Beatrice Clive, an English girl, from a dangerous cliff. Six years pass, during which Maddox becomes a wealthy rancher. Upon returning, Maddox finds the Bulverton estate is in jeopardy and Beatrice is engaged to the villainous Sir George Trenery due to financial desperation.
Suffering from amnesia, Captain Norman Craig is embroiled in a doctor's plot to steal both a cache of jewels and Craig's own doting girlfriend. A lost film.
Young, introverted New York attorney Jimmie Pendleton is notoriously shy around women. Instead, he spends much of his time embarking on wild escapades with his friend, Herbert Austin. To fund these adventures, Jimmie frequently wires his eccentric Uncle Tobias in Kansabraska (a fictionalized Midwestern location) for emergency cash. Chaos ensues when Jimmie becomes engaged to Herbert’s sister, Mary. Following the engagement, Uncle Tobias unexpectedly arrives from the West. Jimmie is forced into a frantic, comical scramble to maintain appearances and conceal his true, wilder lifestyle—along with his careless spending habits—from his visiting uncle and his new in-laws.
Roscoe Tracy, the foreman of a large mining camp, is unjustly sentenced to life in prison for robbery and murder. In his absence, his little daughter Joan is raised by mine superintendent Robert Carter. Many years after her father's conviction, Joan receives an anonymous note advising her to examine the contents of a chest that is stored in a certain warehouse. Carter, alarmed by this development, tries to secure the trunk himself, but not before it is purchased at an auction by Jim Younger and his friends. Joan, who loves Jim, informs the young man of the chest's value, and when Carter and his men steal the box, Jim pursues them and retrieves it.
Helen Meriless, a serious young girl, marries a shallow man, while Frances Lloyd, a butterfly type, marries a level-headed engineer. Both start their honeymoon on the same ship. A shipwreck causes a mix-up of the married persons; Helen and her husband remain faithful to each other, but Frances and her husband separately engage in adulterous activities. A rescue ship carries away the faithless couple, leaving the others to their fate; but the latter survive and eventually triumph.
