Gwynplaine, son of Lord Clancharlie, has a permanent smile carved on his face by the King, in revenge for Gwynplaine's father's treachery. Gwynplaine is adopted by a travelling showman and becomes a popular idol. He falls in love with the blind Dea. The king dies, and his evil jester tries to...
On the lam, criminal Alonzo hides in the circus as The Armless Wonder – a performer who uses his feet to hurl knives. Alonzo keeps the arms he really has concealed to hide his identity. Meanwhile, ringmaster's daughter Nanon has a phobia of being touched by men, but is romantically pursued by not...
In 15th century France, a gypsy girl is framed for murder by the infatuated Chief Justice, and only the deformed bellringer of Notre Dame Cathedral can save her.
In the 1840's Mexico has ceded California to the United States, making life nearly impossible for the Mexican population due to the influx of land and gold-crazy Americans. Farmer Joaquin Murrieta revenges the death of his wife against the four Americans who killed her and is branded an outlaw. The...
An alcoholic woman was charged and tried for murder and a young defense attorney, unaware that she is his mother, takes the assignment to defend her in court.
An embellished account of the 1803 expedition by famed frigate U.S.S. Constitution--a.k.a. "Old Ironsides"--against the Barbary pirates then terrorizing American shipping, focusing on the crew and passengers of a fictional merchant ship, The Esther, who fall afoul of the same pirates and thus...
Alexei, a young officer, saves the Czarina of a small European kingdom from revolutionary conspirators and is rewarded with her love. Infatuated, he deserts his sweetheart, Anna, the Czarina's lady-in-waiting, only to discover that his Queen is far from true to him. Desperate, he joins the...
Dave Kent, a commercial aviator, and his mechanic, Skeets Smith, are forced to make an emergency landing in Mexico and find themselves in the hands of La Panthera, a notorious bandit who wishes to overthrow the government and become president of a new republic. Manuel, his chief henchman, obliges...
Capt. James Stewart pursues the bandit "The Kinkajou" over the Mexican border and falls in love with Rita, though he suspects that her brother is the bandit.
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...
Tom Conlin, an Irish cop walking a beat in an Italian neighborhood, falls in love with Tita Sartori, the daughter of a florist. Tita returns Tom's affection but keeps him at a distance, believing him to be married; However she is also wooed by an unscrupulous politician of considerable wealth.....
A Parisian cabaret dancer Emilia finds herself under the scrutiny of aristocratic British military officer Jerome Hautrix, who catches her act while on furlough during WWI. Convinced that Emilia is of noble birth, Hautrix tracks her down after the war, determined to trace her family tree. In the...
On a South Sea island, Stella operates a hotel for her mother, who is constantly drunk on liquor smuggled by Shane, the principal trader and virtual dictator of the island. Dave Wade, exhausted from the heat, lands on the shore near the hotel and reports having escaped from a nearby cannibal...
Delmar Spavinaw, an educated "half-breed," loves Evelyn Huntington, daughter of a racist judge. Evelyn's other suitor is Ross Kennion, a widower with one child, and owner of a vast tract of land which Spavinaw insists belongs to his Indian mother. Spavinaw seeks revenge when Judge Huntington...
An illiterate, uncouth brute rises to power during the Russian Revolution, plots to wreak vengeance on all who cross him, and incites the peasantry to burn the city.
Nightclub entertainer Violet La Tour collapses during a performance in Sagebrush, Texas, and is taken to the ranch of Lon Dixon. They fall in love and are married. Feeling deserted when Lon joins a posse in search of rustlers, she returns to New York. There, she is wooed by her agent, Maurice Kane,...
Renée (Mae Murray) is the heiress of a Mexican ranch, granddaughter of a woman known for her recklessness and frivolity at night. This first "Mademoiselle Midnight" is banished in the opening scene by Napoleon III at Empress Eugenie's insistence to Mexico. Renee is kept locked at the hacienda at...