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Flora Hawks is in love with the overseer of Tarzan's African estate. After a search for a legendary city of diamonds, Tarzon races with his pet lion Jad-bal-ja to save Haws from being sacrificed to a lion-god.

Marion Taylor is secretary to Edward Mallory, a wealth Wall Street businessman. She supports her invalid brother Tommy, who has been told by his doctors that he has to go to the mountains for his health. Marion doesn't have the money for that, but Mallory, who has made no secret of his intentions towards her, does. She resigns herself to submitting to his advances in order to get the money in order to keep her brother alive. However, circumstances arise in which she may possibly get the money without having to debase herself with her boss.

The Rev. Robert Martin, having been deserted by his wife years earlier, seizes upon that injustice as an excuse to lead a life of crime. Martin preaches the gospel while his band of pickpockets relieve his worshipers of their hard earned money. When his daughter Joan, who is unaware of her father's nefarious practices, joins the troupe, the reverend decides to make his last crooked deal. That night, a great thunderstorm sweeps through the area, and while the reverend is standing at the window, a bolt of lightning blinds him and sets fire to the house. In the flames, Joan is overcome with smoke and the reverend prays for her recovery. Miraculously, his prayers are answered, restoring the holy man's faith. With their leader's conversion, the members of his troupe also reform and the reverend finally is rewarded when his wife and his sight are both restored to him.

As children, sisters Helen Mathews and Mary Mathews couldn't be more dissimilar--Helen is selfish, thoughtless and self-centered, while Mary is exactly the opposite. Later, Helen--out of spite--steals Mary's boyfriend. May has enough and leaves home to become a chorus girl in New York City. She eventually becomes a star and attracts a young millionaire, Philip Pierce, but--to the astonishment of the other chorus girls--she turns him down. Philip, however, doesn't intend to take this rejection without a fight.

Rear Admiral Vincent's daughter Sara, has a passion for collecting jade, was previously been in love with Captain Corey, but she insisted that he marry his fiancee, Alida, who remains intensely jealous of Sara. At a party Captain Willing jokingly boasts of the superiority of his jade collection and invites Sara to see it; they are locked in a room by his servant, and Sara, forced to exit by the bedroom window, is seen by Alida, whose gossip causes Sara to be ostracized. As a result, Vincent suffers a stroke and dies, and Sara swears revenge on Alida. Fifteen years on, she is a hotel owner on a South Sea island where fate sends Captain Corey, Alida, and their young son, Allan. Sara plots with Beresford to compromise Alida, but Allan, in a drunken fit, kills Beresford. Sara takes the blame to save him, leaving the Coreys' happiness untouched.

Following a political coup in the Balkan kingdom of Roxenburg, young King Alexis and his American governess Janet Holbrooke flee to America but are pursued by two Roxenburg officers. Out west, Tom Potter, a rancher, gives them shelter. A neighbor, Henry Storne, holds the mortgage on the ranch but is lenient because of his daughter Cynthia's interest in Tom. Resentful of Janet's presence, Cynthia informs the Roxenburg officers about Alexis, whom they kidnap, but Tom overtakes their car and rescues the boy. Cynthia then induces her father to foreclose on the ranch. During Tom's absence, the Roxenburgians again abscond with Alexis and Janet, but in a desperate ride Tom overcomes the officers. The elder Storne relents in his foreclosure proceedings, assuring the happiness of Janet and Tom.

Philip Vanderdecker falls asleep while reading The Flying Dutchman and dreams about Peter Van Dorn, burgomaster of a small Dutch seacoast town, telling the legend to his two daughters, Melissa and Zoe. Vanderdecker imagines that he is The Flying Dutchman, condemned by God for blaspheming during a storm to roam the seas in a phantom ship and to reach port only once every seven years. His only salvation is in finding a woman who will be faithful to him. If he finds such a woman the curse will be lifted. While the burgomaster is telling the story, a stranger comes to the inn. He falls in love with Melissa, but is blind to Zoe, who recognizes him as The Flying Dutchman. Melissa promises to be faithful and sends her former fiancé on a sea voyage from which she hopes he will never return. When Melissa cannot keep her promise, Zoe, who is revealed as Philip Vanderdecker's wife, declares her love and saves The Flying Dutchman just as he is about to embark on another seven-year voyage.

Mexican-Irish grandee Don Miguel Arguella, known as "Don Mike," rescues a party of settlers stranded in the desert. Among them are leader Reuben Pettingill, Jason Kelsey and his daughter Mary, to whom Don Mike is attracted. Pettingill learns that Don Mike has neglected to record the boundaries of his estate and files a claim to the greater part of the acreage. The town alcalde, Don Luis Ybara, bears a grudge against Don Mike for interfering with his persecution of Carmen, a servant girl on the estate. When Don Luis is found murdered, Pettingill offers a reward for the grandee's capture. General Frémont hears of the incident and sends a group of soldiers to the rancho, while Don Mike poses as a monk to officiate the wedding of Pettingill and Mary. Don Mike clears the room by attaching daggers to a pair of long ropes and swinging them in circles, then subdues Pettingill. After revealing the villain as a murderer and usurper, Don Mike wins the love of Mary.

Disguising herself as a masked bandit, Catalina, the ward of the governor of a Spanish province, avenges injustice, aids the poor, and plots a revolution. Hugh Winthrop, a young American who owns mines in the province, comes to inspect them and is kidnapped by Catalina, who suspects him of being an enemy of the people. He escapes but meets Catalina later at the governor's palace, where they are arrested for stealing state papers. Catalina escapes, and Hugh is sentenced to be executed. As he is standing before the firing squad, Catalina and her followers ride in and save him. The governor, who was responsible for many of the province's ills, is convicted; and Hugh and Catalina are united.

Mary's kid brother needs an operation and, in order to pay for it, Mary goes to a Hollywood studio and applies for a job as an actress. Mary is given a job as a waitress in the commissary, and gets to meet 40 actors, actresses and directors, none of whom tip big enough to enable Mary to earn enough money to pay for an operation. Will Mary become an actress and make some big money? Does corn grow in Iowa?

Joe Holland, the superintendent of a gold mine, saves his invalid friend, Weadon Scott, from a pack of wolves. Frank Wilde, an executive engaged to Holland's daughter, Mollie, buys White Fang, a man-eating dog, from an Indian and matches him with a bulldog in a pit fight. Scott rescues the dog and tames him. After Mollie Holland marries Wilde, she discovers that he is robbing the mine. Mollie tells Scott of Wilde's perfidy, but Wilde escapes, blackjacking Scott and killing Holland. Orphaned, Mollie goes to the home of Judson Black, the owner of the mine. Wilde attempts to spirit her away and is killed by White Fang. Scott and Mollie eventually find happiness together.

When heavyweight contender Battling Jack Riley uses the Bar X Ranch for his training quarters, foreman Tom Buckely becomes concerned over Riley's attentions to Frances Morris, the owner's daughter, whom Tom loves. Gerald, Frances' twin brother, confesses to a theft of money from the bank in which he works, and to retrieve the money Tom agrees to fight Riley for three rounds, to the disgust of Frances. Riley sees Tom give Gerald the money and has the boy kidnapped on the way to the bank, then uses him as a decoy to lure Frances to a cabin. Frankie, unseen by Riley, returns to the ranch for his brother, Tom, who arrives in time to defeat Riley after a terrific struggle and to rescue Frances.

Dad Randall is forced to mortgage his cattle to pay a debt to Ivor Johnson, who has bought them after stealing the receipts for the money Randall actually has paid. His son, Dean, returns home from action in the trenches and saves John Stickley, his daughter Grace, and a child from the grasping tactics of Texas Pete, a Johnson hireling who is charging for use of the waterhole. Meanwhile, Dad Randall is being forced to sign over the ranch, but Dean arrives and disposes of the villains just before Dad's death. When Johnson's cattle are rustled, Dean goes to work for him to track down the rustlers; returning the stolen cattle, Dean is tricked by Johnson, but with the aid of Grace and his horse, Silver King, he escapes. By a pulley stunt, Dean leads his pursuers into the sheriff's trap, and following a final showdown with Johnson, Dean and Grace are united.

Tse Chan, a Chinese viceroy, believing his wife to be unfaithful, sentences her to death. After learning of her innocence too late, he sends his son, Li Chan, to America and goes into seclusion. Li Chan returns to the fatherland as a successful engineer and falls in love with Hyacinth, daughter of a poor basket-weaver. She is kidnapped by the viceroy, and thinking she has deserted him, Li Chan goes to the city and becomes famous as a teacher. Engaged to give private lessons to the niece of Ho Ling, he soon learns that his pupil is none other than Hyacinth, and he plans an escape for her. They seek refuge in the caverns of "The Sleeping Dragon," an active volcano, but overcome by fumes, they are forced to surrender and are sentenced to the torture of Ling Chee by the lifting of the "Vermilion Pencil." During an eruption of the volcano, the lovers escape and flee from the city.

Tom Duffy, whose father is the half-owner of the Flying-U Ranch, spends half his time reading movie magazines and the other half with Mary Smith. Mary and her kid-brother, Frankie, are heirs to the other half of the Flying U, and wards of Tom's Father. Tom's interest in movie magazines is Pandora Golden, the movie vamp. Tom is thrilled when he learns that Pandora's next film will be shot on the ranch. Pandora's co-star, Courtney, learns of Mary's inheritance, and he conspires with Pandora to lure Tom away while he talks Mary into eloping. The latter, seeing Tom in Pandora's arms, gets angry and tells Courtney she will elope with him. Meanwhile, a child actress with the movie company, is rescued from a raging bull by Tom, and Tom learns that Pandora is the child's mother. She tells him of the scheme to make Mary marry Courtney, and Tom hits the saddle and takes out after Courtney the Cad.

Aviators meet in the New Mexico desert to experiment with gas for night skywriting, but end up rescuing a woman who is being pursued by a renegade foreman. The aviators foil a plan by the foreman to poison their water supply and he requests assistance by the border police. The foreman escapes, but perishes in the desert without water.

Rose Rosetti, the orphaned daughter of a New York gangster, and Danny Lewis, another orphan, have been brought up by Sara and Abraham Kamisnsky, an elderly Jewish couple with an artificial-flower shop on the lower East Side. Rose works in the shop and Danny, after defeating the ward-bully in a fight, joins the political gang. The Kininskys die, having told Rose of her real parentage, and will the shop to Danny and Rose. Danny, saved from the gang by Rose, falls into the clutches of Willifsky, a Bolshevik agitator, and his co-worker, Emma Goldstein. Danny falls in love with Emma and she uses him for the "cause." When the war with Germany comes, Danny will not enlist into the army. Willifsky and Emma are attacked by a crowd while they are agitating and Danny, in helping them, assaults a policeman. He also prevents her from throwing a bomb, and, after Galligan, a ward-leader, gets him exonerated, decides to join the army.

Jeff Decker, with the help of Indian leader Red Dog, orchestrates a series of raids on the town of Coldwater, planning to drive the residents out of town and buy up all of their horses, while also starting false rumors of a gold strike outside of town so he can sell phony claims to prospective miners. He hires Fred Coulter, a struggling miner, to buy the horses. Decker also decides that he wants pretty Ruth Browning, whose aunt owns the local eating establishment. Fred learns of Decker's duplicity, and tries to get the miners and townspeople together to fight off an impending Indian attack orchestrated by Decker.

A minister's wife leaves her husband and child because of the disgrace of being compromised by Wall Street operator George Ransdell aboard his yacht. Fifteen years later, after having been his mistress, she has him arrested for fraud and imprisoned. Ultimately, she is redeemed by her son, who has become an evangelist, and after Ransdell's death she is reunited with her family.