In 19th century France, Jean Valjean, a man imprisoned for stealing bread, must flee a relentless policeman named Javert. The pursuit consumes both men's lives, and soon Valjean finds himself in the midst of the student revolutions in France.

A canal boat captain disowns his daughter when she marries a circus performer. Years later he is reunited with the granddaughter he never knew.

An assassination attempt is made on the life of Paul I, the infant King of Veseria, by Stefan, a henchman of Pavlovitch, the Regent, who wishes to take over the kingdom. Paul's bodyguard, Dimitri, foils the plot, but Pavovitch is told the attempt was successful and proclaims himself King. Dimitri takes the boy king to England to the home of his rightful father, Paul Verdayne. Twenty years passes, and Pavovitch finds himself the ruler or a bankrupt and rebellious country. To save her father's throne, Opal, his daughter consents to becoming the bride of the Prince of Argone, an elderly man with a bad reputation.

A British army officer refuses to avenge the death of a general who was murdered years earlier. He is awarded three feathers by his officers. When his fiancée fails to defend his stance, he plucks a feather from her fan. He proves his courage by rescuing his comrades in dangerous and life-threatening situations. Later he returns each feather as proof of his redemption and courage.

John Wheeler (Warren Cook) gets himself in some financial hot water and needs to prove that he is half owner of some land in Canada. But the only person with a copy of the deed is Jean Corteau (Edwin Carewe, who also directed), and Corteau has gone up to the property and decided to claim all of it for himself.

Four-year-old Dorothy, the daughter of rich lawyer Winfred North, is inconsolable over her mother's recent death. Her father, too absorbed with business to pay attention to his daughter and her problems, marries Helen Stillwell, a widow with her own two children. Helen ignores Dorothy while taking care of her own children, treating Dorothy as if she's always "in the way". Finally Dorothy can take no more and runs away. She is found by the Goodwins, a married missionary couple, but when they bring her home, Helen Stillwell denies knowing Dorothy at all, seeing a chance for her own children to inherit Winfred's wealth and cut Dorothy out of the picture altogether. The Goodwins take Dorothy to Africa with them to bring Christianity to the natives, but matters don't work out quite as well as they expected.