Two young Chicago hoodlums, Tom Powers and Matt Doyle, rise up from their poverty-stricken slum life to become petty thieves, bootleggers and cold-blooded killers. But with street notoriety and newfound wealth, the duo feels the heat from the cops and rival gangsters both. Despite his ruthless criminal reputation, Tom tries to remain connected to his family, however, gang warfare and the need for revenge eventually pull him away.

Although Vivian Revere is seemingly the most successful of a trio of reunited schoolmates, she throws it away by descending into a life of debauchery and drugs.

The story begins in 1917 with Stan and Ollie being drafted into the U.S. Army to fight in World War I. While in the Army, the pair befriend a man named Eddie Smith, who is killed by the enemy during a battle. After the war is over, Stan and Ollie venture to New York City, where they begin a quest to reunite Eddie's little daughter with her rightful family. The task proves both monumental and problematic as the boys discover just how many people in New York have the last name Smith.

The setting is a city block during a sweltering summer, where the residents serve as representatives of the not-very-idealized American melting pot. There is idle chitchat, gossip, jealousy, racism, adultery, and suddenly but not unexpectedly, a murder.

A young woman dutifully marries an older millionaire and then falls in love with a handsome nobleman-- who'd previously saved her life-- on her unhappy honeymoon.

A medical researcher is sent to a plague outbreak, where he has to decide priorities for the use of a vaccine.

A mother from Arkansas is very possessive of her grown son. To prevent him from getting married she has him drafted into WW I.

Better known for her work in talkie "weepers," Helen Twelvetrees made a few preliminary appearances in such late silent films as Fox's Blue Skies. The audience was expected to believe that the twentysomething Twelvetrees and Frank Albertson are teenagers living together platonically in an orphan asylum. A wealthy old man comes calling to adopt Albertson -- who, feeling sorry for Twelvetrees, trades places with the girl. Thus it is that the heroine is carted off to a luxurious mansion, while Albertson remains behind. One year later, the old man discovers Albertson's deception, whereupon he invites the boy to live with him as well. By this time, Twelvetrees and Albertson are of marriageable age, thus the film ends with a wedding in the offing.

A safecracker poses as a French maid in order to gain access to wealthy homes. In the midst of a nocturnal search for a cache of valuables, she is interrupted by another safecracker. Narrowly escaping arrest, they decide to pool their talents, but she gets the urge to reform and encourages him to do the same.

The gang trades places with a group of orphans about to take a train ride.

Nightclub singer Joan Gordon runs away from her gangster boyfriend to become a mail-order bride to a struggling North Dakota farmer. Their relationship has a rocky start, but just as Joan realizes she's developing feelings for her husband, her old boyfriend arrives to win her back.

Lee is a fresh young kid from the South when he gets a job with The Press. His first assignment on gangsters gets his name in the paper, the police on a raid and Lee in the hospital.

A young songwriter struggles to make good in New York.

After his beloved daughter leaves for the city to pay off his debt, an old farmer goes mad when her letters become less frequent and it is suspected she may be using her body to get the money.

After obtaining a divorce from his second wife Emily, Roy Tappan marries Dora Carson, who has just divorced her husband. Left poor with two children, Emily marries Walter Heath, a former suitor, then discovers that she cannot live with her new husband because the divorce is not legal in her home state. Tappan and his new wife soon run out of money, each having thought the other was wealthy. His aunt promises to support him in exchange for his two children. He kidnaps the children and hides them from Emily in his aunt's home. After Emily and Walter find them, they go to Yellowstone Park, where they are considered legally married. Tappan follows and is killed after a fight with Walter when a boiling geyser throws him into the air and throws him onto the rocks below.

Fred Prouty and his wife, Nettie, are living happily until the day that his aged father shows up on their doorstep. He immediately begins creating havoc, upsetting the once-orderly household and trying to force his opinions on everyone. Nettie does her best to be patient with the old man, but the day comes when he brings a group of his pals over while she is holding a meeting of a fashionable club.

Nat Alden, a promoter, has had bad luck on his deal and is broke. He meets an old army pal who is now a chauffeur of the businessman who threw the luckless Nat out of his office. Nat is on his way back to his small hometown, where he is believed to be a millionaire. To keep the belief alive he has his pal drive him there in the businessman's automobile. Complications arise quickly.

A boxer falls in love with a girl he meets in the park.

A pearl stolen from an Indian idol results in nothing but trouble for its owner. After he receives death threats by note pinned to a dagger, he decides to gather his relatives in his old mansion for a reading of his will. Unfortunately, the family members are being mysteriously bumped off one by one. The butler and an heiress set out to discover what's going on.

On shore leave, a young sailor meets and falls in love with a pretty young blonde. He goes home with her to meet her parents, but they don't approve of him at all. Their daughter takes offense at this, and in the ensuing argument she storms out of the house determined to live on her own.