Winthrop Clavering a mystery writer, is continually ridiculed for the fiction of the crimes he depicts, so he decides to solve a case himself. To that end, he determines to find the slayer of Pedro Alvarez, who whispered before dying that his assailant was a woman. At the City Refuge for Homeless Girls, Clavering obtains the assistance of Margaret Holt, the sister of Victor Holt, the district attorney. Margaret, it is revealed, was abducted by Juanita, a member of a gang of white slavers led by Alvarez. After escaping from a brothel, Margaret became Alvarez' stenographer, hoping to gather secret information on his gang. While searching for evidence, Margaret was surprised by Alvarez, whom she killed. Finally, Clavering captures the gang, clears Margaret, and encourages her romance with cub reporter Jack Howell. This film is presumably lost.
The proprietor of the Crowing Rooster Inn was a bad man, but he went one too many when he stole the airship model from the War Department, for they were on his trail immediately. The head waitress discovered the workshop where the proprietor was having the model duplicated and she was bribed not to say anything about what she saw. She started out with the bribe money to buy some gewgaws for herself, but she got in the road of a passing auto. Unfortunately, the auto contained the young Secret Service agent.
Historically significant as Universal's first 100% all-talkie, the production suffered from having a tight shooting schedule. Carl Laemmle was only able to rent the Fox Movietone sound-on-film recording system for one week, having to be filmed at night while the Fox Studio was closed down for the evenings.
Capturing a beautiful horse and slave girl, Thurya young Arab Jaafor’s happiness is short lived when the girl is sold to a cruel sheik. Sneaking into the encampment he attempts escape with her on horseback but is captured. The attack of an enemy tribe saves him, the sheik is slain, and the young Jaafor’s tribe celebrates his nuptials with Thurya.
Khokhlova, a girl-reporter on a Moscow newpaper, falls in love with factory manager Petrovsky. To her he's the epitome of manliness-virile, decisive, strong-minded. Conversely, she rejects the sensitive, diffident editor Vasilchikov, who's in love with her, as unmanly. Her infatuation affects her work, and she is fired.
After Outlaw Slippery Joe robs a miner and his daughter, a sheriff pursues him. While on the outlaw’s trail, the sheriff finds the miner's horse, abandoned by the outlaw, and notices the resemblance between Slippery Joe and Mr. Bond, a man he had encountered earlier who was searching for his twin brother. The miner and his daughter arrive at the ranger's cabin, recognizing Bond as the robber.
Ethel Dunne and Jack Blakeney are sweethearts, despite the objections of Ethel's father. Mr. Dunne has just admonished the young couple when he is entrapped by a flirtatious gypsy beauty. When an innocent but comprising, situation occurs the gypsy’s husband Tony appears and demands $1,000 in a designated spot to escape an Italian bomb. Ethel and Jack find the note so when Dunne leaves the money, Jack arrests Tony and banks the money to Ethel's credit. Arriving home Father Norton tells of his great bravery in foiling the designing gypsy, but Jack and Ethel reveal their part in the little comedy.
Chester Rowe commits a robbery and murder, then flees to the mountains where he meets and falls in love with Lottie Toby. Lottie's father receives news of $1,000 awaiting him at the post office. Rowe, aware of this, attempts to rob Mr. Toby. Disabled local youth Oliver comes upon the theft in process, he and Toby simultaneously shoot Rowe, resulting in his death. Oliver, believing he killed Rowe, hides the body. Toby's helper, Jack, finds Toby injured by a bullet wound. The sheriff wrongly accuses Jack of assaulting Toby. Oliver confesses to killing Rowe, and Jack is proven innocent.
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.
The secluded life of sturdy young lighthouse-keeper Robert and his wife Anna is interrupted by a visit from a stranger, Harry Nelson, a sportsman and novelist in search of adventure. They give him a hearty welcome, and while Robert goes to catch a mess of fish for dinner, Anna entertains the stranger with a tour of the lighthouse and the jagged cliffs surrounding it. In return Nelson tells Anna stories of his life in the city.
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.