This is not a Clara Bow vehicle, and yet it is clearly the aspect/asset of Clara Bow which elevates a fairly serious melodrama to a timeless and profound social statement. Opening the film on death row where the handsome youth awaits the chair, a stirring test of the legal system evolves after two elite types conspire to expose its inadequacies. Elite, jaded society lawyer Gordon Harrington fabricates a murder, implicating an entirely "hired" fall-guy, one Dan O'Connor, while the bored playboy-type hides away on a yacht until the points are proven and the legal system has been disgraced. Naturally, something goes wrong, the playboy really turns up murdered, and O'Connor is now the accused, imprisoned murderer scheduled to be hanged.

Arthur Randall becomes prosperous after divorcing his wife, Laura, and she now attempts unsuccessfully to win him back. Randall's son becomes ill, and he engages Joan Laird and her mother to care for the boy. Society misunderstands, and Joan is branded as a parasite. Laura kidnaps the boy, Bertie, and Joan gives chase. Laura's car goes over a cliff, and she is killed. Bertie survives the crash, however, and he and Joan attempt to find their way to a refuge. They become lost in the hills, and Joan manages to keep Bertie from dying until rescue comes.

Lacking patients, Dr. Sumner sets himself up as a psychologist and opens a sanitarium, becoming quite successful. Virginia Zelva, a clairvoyant who wants to get into what she regards as a racket, signs on as his nurse. Sumner falls in love with Virginia and, after numerous complications, wins her for his bride.