Armand and Marie survive in the streets until charitable (and wealthy) scientist Pierre Marcel takes Armand in after a botched robbery. Marie, a fiery Apache, swears revenge on Marcel for taking her lover away from her.

A lovely dame with dangerous lies employs the services of a private detective, who is quickly caught up in the mystery and intrigue of a statuette known as the Maltese Falcon.

This drama had two directors: Maurice Elvey handled most of the film, but the fantasy sequence was directed by Henry Otto. Newlyweds Alice and Robert are already having differences over money. He gets angry at her extravagances, especially when she spends more than they can afford on an imitation pearl necklace. Ridgeway, a client of Robert's, invites the couple to a party. Robert wants to decline, but Alice insists that they go. Ridgeway loans Alice a real pearl necklace, to "restore their lustre," and everyone heads for his yacht. Ridgeway pays Alice a lot of attention, while a young widow tries to vamp Robert.

Malcolm McGregor joins the circus and falls in love with Olive Borden but his life changes when he finds out he is a titled Lord.

In San Francisco, a villainous landowner with underworld connections seeks to steal the property of an old Spanish family.

Barbara Winslow helps her rebel brother, Rupert, escape from the king's forces by disguising herself as him. Captain Prothero captures her, but he has fallen for Barbara's charms so he lets her go. As a result they are both arrested and imprisoned.

Rod Norton is a lawman searching for his father's killer. Norton suspects saloon owner Jim Garson but is lacking evidence. Garson's henchmen, the Rickard brothers, kidnap Norton's sweetheart Dorothy, hoping to lure the sheriff into a trap.

At the Golden Trail saloon in Alaska, Dave Langdon meets chorus girl Faro Kate who reminds him of his long-lost love, Jane Sunderlin. Meanwhile, back in the States, Harry Teal, scheming to steal a mine claim, hires Jane's brother Dick to do his dirty work in Alaska. After Jane accompanies her brother up North, Teal, who has designs on Jane, begins to fear that she will go back to Dave and so plots to discredit him by igniting the jealousy of Kate's admirer, Jim Sykes. Teal succeeds, and in the violent fight that erupts between Dave and Sykes, Sykes is shot by an unknown hand. While pursuing Sykes' assailant, Dave discovers Jane, but their reunion is cut short when Dave is arrested for the shooting.

Paul Granville becomes a famous painter for his portraits of great women as modeled by the beautiful Joline Hofer. When one of Paul's paintings appears to result in a miracle, Joline's life is changed forever. She leaves her previous life to live one of service and piety, a decision that ultimately saves Paul's life.

An insane man first loves then grows to hate his neighbor, an old man whose penetrating gaze unnerves the insane man. He plans a perfect crime and executes it one night. The next day, two officers knock on the insane man's door, investigating a shriek heard in the night. The insane man invites them in, answers their questions, and submits to an examination of his eyes by one of the officers, who proclaims him innocent. The insane man invites them to stay and relax awhile, then regales them with his theories of crime. His heart begins to beat louder. Angles on the set are skewed to suggest the man's internal disarray.