Year 1917

The circus dancer Lulu is a thoroughly liberal being. Although she loves her former savior, the clown Alfredo, she begins a relationship with the noble Henri von Reithofen. Henri kills himself ruined by the horrendous expenses for Lulu. She however is fishing for the next rich patron, the much older Baron Waldheim. His son knows Lulu and warns his father that she will also hurt him. Waldheim succumbs to Lulus's insinuations and punishes his son.

Optimistic in the face of failure, Daniel Webster Opp finally attains success as a traveling salesman for a shoe firm, but just when his prospects are best, he receives word that his stepfather is dead. He leaves at once to meet his brother Ben at Cove Junction, where they settle the estate according to Ben's demands. Ben takes the money, while Mr. Opp is given the homestead and custody of Kippy, his feebleminded half-sister. Sacrificing all to remain with his sister, Mr. Opp founds a newspaper, the Opp Eagle, and begins to promote the town.

A woman studying at a monastery in the Cyclades has a vision of Christ's passion, which serves as the catalyst for the narration of the Divine Drama.

Roscoe is a doctor who falls in love with a pretty woman whose boyfriend, in turn, falls in love with Roscoe's wife's jewelry.

Ilda Barosky, a Jewess whose father was killed by Russian soldiers, is a violin student in love with Alexis Nazimoff, son of the Russian aristocracy. Alexis' father arranges a marriage of convenience between Alexis and Olga Karischeff, the daughter of the ambitious minister of police and attempts to shame Ilda at the betrothal celebration. Defiant, Ilda is whipped before the entire assembly. Alexis rushes in to rescue her and terminates his engagement to Olga. In retaliation, Karischeff sentences both Ilda and Alexis to ten years in Siberia as his last official act. The couple attempt to escape their Siberian captivity, are caught and face a firing squad until Count Nazimoff, who has assumed Karischeff's position as minister of police, arrives with a pardon. The couple return home, and the penitent count finally grants them his blessings.

Judge Evald Sterner and engineer Kai Falk are rivals for the beautiful Jesta Fridman, daughter of a rich banker. Jesta loves Kai Falk but her father prefers Sterner.

In the prologue, a boat with some shipwrecked persons is drifting at sea. Among them is Baron van Waldheim, who, before he dies of exhaustion, entrusts his little son Alfred to the care of his butler Hendrik. The evil Jan van Oort persuades Hendrik to give him the Baron's papers. When they put the boy ashore, he wounds himself on a nail (leaving a scar that will later prove his identity). For years Van Oort manages to pass himself off as Baron van Waldheim; he is married and has a daughter and a son. One day Hendrik turns up demanding a job as butler, swearing that otherwise he will betray Van Oort's secret. Meanwhile, Alfred - now an adult known as Ulbo Garvema - has become a teacher. Unaware of who Van Oort really is, he accepts the position of tutor to Van Oort's children. He falls in love with the daughter, but Van Oort refuses to give his consent to their marriage. Ulbo and the girl elope.

Marina di Malombra (Borelli) lives in a castle prior to her wedding. She begins to read letters written by an ancestor called Cecilia. She finds out that Cecilia was driven to her death by her uncle. Marina identifies with Cecilia and take revenge on her behalf by murdering her uncle.

A journalist attempt to stop a mysterious criminal : "Barbe rousse".

Lona, a young woman who has no memories of her past, has been adopted by the rich industrialist Van Haaften. She is loved by Henri van Rhenen, a neighbour whose mother still mourns the loss of her daughter, who disappeared twenty years ago under mysterious circumstances. Lona has another suitor, Frans van Borselen, who hopes to marry her so that he can pay his gambling debts with her foster-father's money. Van Haaften discovers that Frans has been cheating at cards and offers him a revolver so that he can end his life honourably.

Melia Nobbs, a young Canadian woman, supports both her invalid father Ambrose and brother Henry. When Henry faces arrest for helping himself to his employer's cash, Melia steals the amount from the star of the theater where she has been dancing and offers it to her brother if he will enlist in the army. Henry agrees and goes off to war, making Ambrose proud of his son, but when Ambrose learns that his daughter has been arrested for theft, he disowns her. Melia does not reveal the reason for taking the money and is sent to prison. Meanwhile, Henry fights bravely in France and returns home minus an arm but wearing the Victoria Cross. He finds his sister, weak and worn from overwork, in the prison hospital. Seeing her brother with his medals, Melia realizes that her sacrifices for him and her country have not been in vain, and that in her own way, she has served her country.

A Dolly short.

A wealthy invalid tries to add his hard-working cook to his will, but the conniving butler gets in the way.

In Imperial Russia, Anna, wife of the officer Karenin, goes to Moscow to visit her brother. On the way, she meets charming cavalry officer Vronsky, to whom she's immediately attracted. But in St. Petersburg’s high society, a relationship like this could destroy a woman’s reputation.

Mildred Manning, known as Middy, is an apprentice in Madame Lizette's fashionable shop. Her beauty is discovered by Madame's brother, George Martin, and she is made a model. One afternoon, she tries on a rejected bathing suit and by adding a touch here and there, makes it into a beautiful creation. Madame then sends her to the beach to carry out a clever advertising scheme. At the shore, Middy is pursued by a reporter and photographer, who have been commissioned by Madame to photograph the girl for calendar advertising. In her flight from the publicity men, Mildred takes refuge in a car owned by lawyer Philip Gordon, who gets into the vehicle and drives off with Middy. Middy has him drop her off where she doesn't live, and he ends up having to try to track her down.