John Steppling

A young French soldier in World War I is overcome with guilt when he kills a German soldier who, like himself, is a musically gifted conscript, each having attended the same musical conservatory in France. The fact that the incident occurred in war does not assuage his guilt. He travels to Germany to meet the man's family.

Fred Rees proposes to Edith Shanlon, contingent on her mother's approval, which is initially denied due to the mother's desire for a wealthy match. A dream reveals the potential unhappiness of such a marriage when Edith's mother envisions Edith married to a wealthy man who neglects her. The dream, filled with infidelity and public humiliation, convinces the mother that a loveless, wealthy marriage is not worth it. Upon waking, she happily grants her consent to Fred and Edith's union.

Tom Allen, a hardworking young miner. He cautions his wife, Beatrice, about the presence of a "worthless chap" named Joe Hills, who frequently loiters around their cabin. Hills subsequently steals Allen's gold, and Beatrice discovers him in the act.

The best man at an upcoming wedding goes to a jeweler to pick up the wedding ring and is also given a bracelet, on approval, worth $25,000. On his way home, a pigeon swoops down and snags the bracelet. The man must track down the pigeon and get the bracelet back so he won't have to pay for it--but that's easier said than done.

Young Mary Lehner is deceived and abandoned by Ralph Moore, a manipulative social climber. Mary, daughter of a blacksmith, falls for Moore while he's taking advantage of her father's hospitality. After Moore leaves her pregnant and heartbroken, she flees to the city, faces hardship, and eventually gives birth to their child. Meanwhile, Moore, now engaged to a wealthy woman, experiences a night of drunken debauchery and insults, ultimately leading him to a deserted house where he encounters Mary again. Seeing her and learning of her suffering, Moore finally recognizes his obligation to her and their child. They reconcile and Mary returns to a respectable social standing.

Jane Goring, a ruthlessly ambitious actress, forsakes her life as a wife and mother for the stage. Returning home from a performance one night, Jane is disgusted to find her husband Robert McNaughton victimized by a tubercular cough and so banishes him and her young daughter to a sanitarium in Colorado. Years pass, finding Jane still estranged from her family. On the opening night of her new play, Jane finds herself upstaged and outperformed by Gloria Cromwell, a rising young actress, who, unknown to Jane, is her abandoned daughter. Returning home, Jane is haunted by visions of her husband and child and begins to sob. Looking up from her pillow, she is startled to see her husband with Gloria.

What connected Harry and Scarlet when the mysterious Cadillac appeared in the rearview mirror? A story straight out of the American dream.

Mary is marrying Jimmie, from whom she has kept a secret; Mary remains in love with another man. Problems ensue, jeopardizing the tranquility of their relationship.

"Damaged Goods" pictures the terrible consequences of vice and the physical ruin that follows the abuse of moral law. It is a stirring plea for a pure life before marriage, in order to make impossible the transmission of hereditary traits to future generations.

A shipping clerk falls under the spell of a socialite, but eventually returns to the girl from his own social class who really loves him.

Steven Brooks, a young man who finds himself entangled in a complicated situation involving his wife, Mrs. Steven Brooks, and another woman named Nell. The relationships and events that unfold ultimately test Steven's resolve and character, leading to a dramatic conclusion.

Wealthy wastrel Neil Sparks devotes more attention to the pursuit of pleasure than to his inherited oil business. Neil's neglect allows two schemers, Craig and Abbott, to siphon the Sparks' Texas oil through the construction of an illegal pipeline. Upon receiving notification that his wells are running dry, and in an attempt to rid himself of the unwelcome attentions of his mercenary fiancée, Bess Kinloch, Neil ventures West to investigate, using an assumed name. Discovering the theft, Neil sends for his butler, and the two of them force the crooks to buy a parcel of land and deed the property to Myrtle Pratt, whose father had been swindled and murdered by the scoundrels. Justice served, Neil returns East to be followed by Myrtle and her five brothers, who arrive during his engagement party to Bess. Neil shocks his guests by announcing that the children are his, and he and Myrtle wed.

When a wealthy young lady loses her inheritance, she decides to apply for work in disguise. In prim and proper working girl attire she becomes the respectable companion of a woman looking to reform her wayward nephew.

Within earshot of her fiancé Leo Holmes and his friend Bruce Morgan Louise Wilke says she could never marry a man who was a drunkard. Morgan, secretly in love with Louise, gets Leo intoxicated and sends him to her home. Louise breaks off the engagement and Bruce pursues her. Undecided, she slips into a dream where she is mired in a life of misery with Morgan, who has become a worse drunkard than Holmes as well as selfish and brutal. In trying to defend herself from Bruce she kills him with a pair of shears. Holmes, a poor derelict, hears her scream, rushes to her rescue. Louise awakens and sends for Leo.

While taking a morning workout, young prizefighter Danny Martin encounters Charlotte Hamilton in distress over her balky roadster. Martin wins his fight but is counted a loser by a crooked referee. Later, he is invited to a barbecue at Charlotte's home, but when John Hamilton, who strongly dislikes fighters, learns of Martin's profession, he shows him the door. Danny gives up his career for Charlotte and opens a health resort for obese millionaires. Hamilton and his prospective son-in-law, Penrod, arrive at the resort for treatment, and their indignation and disgust at the treatment provide comic complications. Learning that Danny and Charlotte have already eloped, Hamilton is at first furious, then resigns himself to their happiness.

By Whose Hand? is a lost 1927 American silent crime drama film directed by Walter Lang and released by Columbia Pictures.

Andy is searching for a woman whose photo he found in an envelope with the challenge "Find me." Meanwhile, J.D.P. Moore and his daughter, Ruth, are also at Miramar Beach. Ruth is looking for a heroic husband, and her father tries to make the Count Raphio seem heroic by staging an attack on her that the Count is supposed to stop. However, the Count's plan fails, and Andy ends up rescuing Ruth from the attack, recognizing her as the woman from the photo.

Jeff Daggett, owner of a garage in Rockett, Arizona, neglects his business for work on a new type of automobile motor, while Johnny Fox, his assistant, handles the business. President Holtwood of a motor company and his daughter Nadine are driving to California when their car breaks down near Rockett.

Ida Price has been cheated out of her share in her father's estate by her cousin Charles. She puts the appeal of the case in the hands of Judge Clark and his assistant Robert Graham. Charles tries to compromise with Ida, but she stands firm. He resorts to attempting to get the judge tipsy and delay the verdict. He fails, the former decision is reversed with Ida receiving her fair share and incidentally a husband in Robert Graham.

Austin Starfield has his greedy eye on a steel mill belonging to Eve Burnside. He persuades an impoverished count, Leon Molnar to marry Eve so he can then gain control of her fortune.