A young woman hits Hollywood, determined to become a star.

A miner's happiness is destroyed when a rival steals his mine. He becomes obsessed with revenge, and plans a trap for the man who took his mine.

A nobleman seeks to rescue his bride, who has been kidnapped by his former lover and a bandit.

A high-society woman, mingling with the artistic set in New York City, gets snared in a tangle of lies, and is forced to fight against overwhelming odds to care for her beloved child.

In managing the shipyard inherited from her father, Derith Keogh has considerable labor problems and accedes to the unreasonable demands of John Trevelyan, an anarchist labor agitator. Derith's brother John is off in pursuit of an adventuress, and Angus Campbell, her superintendent, resigns in exasperation. Angus returns, however, to help Derith persuade Trevelyan to settle a strike, which Trevelyan accomplishes in spite of being shot by one of his own men.

Before he can avenge a crooked card game, Dan Carrington suffers heart failure and dies in his chair. John Tralee, the cheater, feels a pang of guilt when he discovers that he has taken all of Carrington's money and adopts the dead man's little girl, Lois. The girl grows up and the gambling hall becomes her second home.

Jefferson Todd and Louis Castiga, brothers-in-law, come to blows on a Mississippi River steamer when Todd discovers Castiga's presence there with a woman.

Valerie West, a beautiful artist's model, falls for wealthy artist Louis Neville. However, his aristocratic family doesn't approve of the relationship and persuades Valerie to promise that she won't marry him. She does, however, tell Louis that she will become his common-law wife on a certain date the following summer. Complications ensue.

Professional forger Bill Butters realizes one day that the police are closing in on him, and convinces his daughter Peggy to flee.

At a party thrown at the Metcalf estate, the Marquise D'Irancy's Sultana diamond disappears when the lights go out during a power failure. Suspected of the crime is William Kirkland, the wastrel son of the wealthy Kirkland family, but William's sister Diana comes to his defense. Aiding her in the investigation is Clamp, a wandering peddler.

Virginia Clerson lives in sordid surroundings with her drunken father, her thieving brother Frank and her wastrel sister Laura. Deciding to take a different path, Virginia runs away from her unhappy home and obtains work in a millinery factory, telling her employer, Frederick Parker, that her relatives are all dead. Virginia works hard, soon becoming superintendent of the factory, and Frederick falls in love with her. She rescues Laura from her lot as a scrubwoman, but just as Virginia and Frederick are to be married, Frank appears and reveals his sister's past.

A mysterious figure attempts to keep a daughter from reuniting with her father.

Alan Holt is a radio expert who has invented a death ray machine for the U.S. government. International spy Drakma wants to get his hands on the invention and he sends his henchmen to attack Holt in his laboratory.

Grace Ainsworth wants to return to her career as an opera singer, and her mother-in-law supports her. Grace's husband, Edwin, wants her to stay at home and to convince her, he relates the story of his latest play about a man who allows his wife to return to the stage. Edwin comes to believe that Grace is in love with Harold Chase, a manager, and the couple separates. Edwin has an affair with a dancer, Madeline, and he winds up in a fight with her dancing partner, Vincenti, which causes him to lose his memory.

For the sake of a woman, Robert Morton serves a prison sentence and is disowned by his father, Henry. He is freed after several years and arrives in San Francisco, California, where he meets Camille Balishaw in a Barbary Coast saloon. She offers Robert shelter and aids in his rehabilitation, but his prison record prevents him from holding a job. After Camille and Robert are married, he finds another job and gradually regains his self-respect. Henry has a change of heart and seeks out Robert, asking him to return home, but without Camille. Robert remains loyal to his wife, forcing Henry to relent as he realizes the depth of their love.

An unscrupulous broker discovers his hated business rival has secured a valuable option in Brazil and determines to delay the latter in New York until it expires. He uses a cabaret dancer to use her wiles to keep him there.

On an island in the South Seas, derelict Tony Heritage is rescued from savage natives by trader and ship captain Rod McLean, but repays him by stealing Rod’s money and fleeing to France. There, Heritage marries a young French woman named Joie Malet, but her father, Captain Jean Malet, having discovered his miscreant past, snatches Joie from the altar stairs and takes her to a South Sea island where he has been posted. Tony Heritage follows, but Capt. Malet keeps him away from Joie by giving him a job on another island, helping Rod McLean build a new trading post.

In Borrowed Plumes is a silent comedy

In this picture, Sessue Hayakawa is in a dual role, playing twin brothers. One of them, Yamashiro is serious and hardworking, while the other, Sadao, is a playboy. There is a girl, Toko-Ku, who loves them both, but really prefers the bad boy. Sadao encounters Paul Berkowitz in a gambling den and borrows far more money from him than he can ever pay back.

Irresponsible Billy Thorpe is sent to South America by his financée Claire's father, George Vincent, the rubber king, in order to reform.