Known for Acting
An admiral's son with no interest in carrying on the family tradition is a successful crooner. He finally joins the Navy to prove he can, but with no real love in it.
In a banana republic, way south of the Texas border, a dumb-Dora American girl, Norma (Olive Borden), lets her ruby-red lips promise more than she is willing to deliver, and she finds herself a prisoner in a notorious dance-hall/brothel. But her American aviator boyfriend, Barry Blake (John Boles), is flying to her rescue. He does just that but, alas, they are quickly captured by a gang of outlaws. Possibly the many expensive pieces of jewelry she has gathered from the many male friends she has made along the way, including El Presidente, captured the outlaws' attention.
Alcoholic playboy Wallace MacDonald (as Bruce Armstrong) would like to sober up and become more responsible, after a drinking accident causes him to cripple little brother Pat Moore (as Jimmy Armstrong). Still, the lure of liquor makes him to sneak drinks at home, and go out partying with carefree showgirl Clara Bow (as Marilyn Merrill). He's promised Ms. Bow he'll quit drinking and gambling. Further complicating Mr. MacDonald's life are the bad checks he's been accumulating. Nasty Stuart Holmes (as Tom Canfield) and Tom Santschi (as "Big Joe" Snead) force MacDonald to join their diamond smuggling racket, in lieu of payment.
In 1871, a Chicago undercover detective gets a job as a porter in a disreputable saloon to get information on a stolen painting, which he believes will be fenced there by thieves. He soon falls in love with the saloon owner's daughter, who believes him to be just a porter. Soon his undercover work puts him and the girl in danger, from both the criminals who stole the painting and the infamous Chicago Fire of 1871.
Dissipated youth Tommy Hilgrade is sent to the lumber lands in the Northwest by his father who hopes that hard living will reform his son. Accompanying Tommy is his sister Marion. Upon their arrival in Canada, lumber foreman Jack Macy is attracted to Marion but, unknown to her, he contributes to Tommy's addiction to drink and gambling. When Marion falls in love with French Canadian Jules Bonnivet after he rescues her from a fall through the ice, Macy schemes to destroy their romance by fabricating the story that Jules is responsible for Tommy's downfall.
Thrifty orphan Norah MacPherson meets wealthy young James Patterson, who gets her a job as a chorus girl. They fall in love. To put up a good front, she spends all her money on clothes. Patterson doubts her when he sees her wearing a string of fake pearls; he then finds that she hasn't been unfaithful, and they are reconciled.
Konia Markham, the daughter of an American father and a Hawaiian mother, is told by a sorceress that the man who presents her with a perfect white flower will be her true love. When Bob Rutherford offers a gardenia to Konia at a banquet, David Panuahi, a rejected suitor, becomes even more jealous and persuades Konia to have the kahuna put a death curse on Bob's fiancee, Ethel Granville. Bob's devotion to a failing Ethel softens Konia, however, and she has the curse removed. She is about to jump into a volcano when Bob, now released by Ethel from their engagement, finds her and declares his love.
Despondent over the infidelity of his wife, William McCabe wanders on the waterfront considering suicide, but instead he saves the life of Shark Moran. Moran gives McCabe a job on his lightship, where McCabe enjoys the solitude and falls in love with Ann Reynolds, the daughter of the captain of the supply ship.
"I hope people see me as an artist, not a blind artist." Tou suffered a severe eye injury in an accident at a young age. The journey into complete blindness was a torment to him. Yet, he doesn't want his struggle and vulnerability to be seen. It is not until he meets Iris that light seems to come into his sight again.
This 15 chapter serial is considered to be "the last of the adult serials". Produced in Wilkes-Barre, PA., it has crisp editing, fast action, and carefully lit and composed interiors and lush pictorial exteriors. This is a serial of great complexity with the director, the photographer and title-maker always in absolute control. The extraordinary rhythmic momentum of the film is never lost despite the films complex plot turns. This is the best of the surviving serials from the silent era.
