The Sixteenth Wife

When a proud noble refuses to kiss the hand of the despotic King James in 1690, he is cruelly executed and his son surgically disfigured.

After a baron steals his scientific discoveries, runs away with his wife, and slaps him in public, a man joins a Parisian circus sideshow as a clown whose act consists of being slapped repeatedly and becomes infatuated with a showgirl colleague whose father intends to marry her off to the baron.

Exotic Russian actress Lisa Parsinova tires of her glamorous life on the New York stage and returns, under her actual identity as Lizzie Parsons, to her small New England hometown. But she is pursued by a young man who is in love with the famed Russian alter ego.

When lifelong best friends Leo and Ulrich return home after completing their military training, Leo meets the stunning Felicitas at a railway station and is mesmerized by her beauty. A scandal follows, for which Leo is sent away. Returning home three years later, he discovers that much has changed.

A young woman marries the wastrel son of a British aristocrat. Her husband, who has been disinherited by his father, loses what little money he has left gambling in casinos and then dies, leaving her penniless and with an infant son. When her former father-in-law tries to get custody of the child, she leaves him with a couple she trusts, but when she later goes to reclaim her son, she can't find the people she left him with.

A famous opera singer lost her voice when her son was born, and has drowned her sorrows in drink. When a murder is committed near her house, she invents a story in order to get herself back in front of the public again. However, the story she comes up with results in her son being arrested for the murder.

A beautiful and ambitious young woman leaves her boyfriend for a famous sculptor, and later--after she models for his statue "Miss Ambition"--marries an old but wealthy art collector. However, things don't turn out quite the way she planned.

Facing poverty, Carol Drayton is prevented from suicide by Rose, a woman of the streets, who buys Carol a meal in a cafe of questionable reputation. The cafe is raided, and Carol is arrested and jailed on the false testimony of wealthy Gordon Duane. When she is released, Carol is again penniless until intoxicated Bobby Bleeker pays her to sing beneath the window of his sweetheart, Aline Sturdevant, where she is discovered by Stratini, a famous impresario. While studying with Stratini, Carol is blackmailed by the butler. Whitney Duane (Gordon's brother) falls in love with her but doubts her because of the gossip, and Carol incurs Aline's wrath by borrowing money from Bobby for Rose. Carol finally realizes her love for Stratini, who has remained loyal to her, and they are married.

John Linden, a victim of wanderlust, jumbles up his life and that of his two daughters. One is a daughter by marriage, the other an offspring of Jessie Walton, a young woman of the village. Noting the resemblance of the two, unscrupulous Mark Lezzard, the sea town's only lawyer, arouses the jealousy of the first daughter's husband Jack Yeulette, the skipper of a fishing smack, hoping to gain her for himself and thereby obtain control over the money John provides for her on a regular basis. After much havoc, happiness is the lot of everyone except Lezzard, whom the crowd "fixes" when they learn of what a wretch he is. A lost film.

Sara Langford, an American girl in Paris, is courted by Count Desanges, who loves her but is considerably older; Thomas Carlton, who is married but is out for conquest; and Julian Greer, her true love. In rescuing Greer from the sea, the count is permanently paralyzed but manages to shoot Carlton when he attacks Sara. Ultimately, the true lovers are reunited.

Although Margaret "Peg" Martyn of the Carolina territory loves Terry, a poor poet, her father, Sir Wyndham Martyn, wishes her to marry the ancient Arthur Elliott. At the engagement party, Peg's wish that "the pirates might get her" comes true when Captain Bones and his men ransack Martyn's estate and carry Peg off to their ship.

George Bryan Brummel, a British military officer, loves Lady Margery, the betrothed of Lord Alvanley. Despite her own desperate love for Brummel, she submits to family pressure and marries Lord Alvanley. Brummel, broken-hearted, embarks upon a life of revelry.

Gerald Cranston, a successful financier and industrialist who worked his way up through the ranks, enters into a marriage of convenience with Lady Hermione, from which he hopes to gain social prestige; Hermione, for her part, desires financial independence. Gordon Ibbotsleigh attempts to win Hermione's affection, while Hermione's cousin Angela directs her wiles toward Gerald. Both efforts fail, however, and the threat of financial ruin finally and firmly unites the Cranstons.

An impoverished British lord (Paul Menford) impersonates a doctor in order to woo an ailing American heiress (Dorothy Adams). The lord is in it for love, but his business associate (Joe Diamond) smells money.

Signa Herrick, a stenographer whose skills leave much to be desired, finds out that her boss is keeping her on only because he's a friend of her recently deceased father. Embarrassed, she leaves her small Wisconsin town for New York to live with her married sister, Janet. She quickly proceeds to get mixed up with jewel thieves, detectives, an alcoholic millionaire and his greedy, scheming relatives.

Polly Biggs helps care for her younger brother and sisters, while her widowed mother works hard as a seamstress to earn a living. Mayor Hoadley, Mrs. Biggs' brother, a crooked politician, calls to sympathize with her on the death of her husband, and Polly takes a dislike to him.

Young Tony, unable to make a living in crowded and fast-paced London, goes to South America in search of his fortune. He soon becomes the owner of a saloon and dance hall. One of the dancers in his place, Maxine, falls in love with him, but Tony is still in love with his childhood sweetheart Una, although Una is now a "party girl" back in London and has forgotten about Tony. However, Tony comes into an unexpected inheritance, along with a title, and returns to London for Una. Although disappointed with Una's current lifestyle, he asks her to marry him despite her "indiscretions". However, the night before they are to be married Una confesses a deep, dark secret to Tony that could change their lives forever.

To avoid marrying the elderly suitor her aunt has chosen for her, young socialite Ivis Van Astor decides to hire Horatio Worthington to pose as her husband. She hopes that as a "married woman" she will pique the romantic interest of Norman Kent, who perceives her as a sweet young thing. Ivis and her hired husband go to Newport, where she begins to flirt with Norman, who discovers her ruse and decides to teach her a lesson. He stages a duel over Ivis with Horatio and pretends to die. Once Ivis is properly chagrined, Norman "recovers," Ivis' aunt falls in love with Horatio, and all ends happily.

Crump's Colossal Combined Carnival Show barely survives financially by hiring thieves and pickpockets to rob customers. One day, clubman Jack Hamilton buys the circus when his car breaks down on his way to meet a deadline to avoid bankruptcy and he needs the circus tractor to haul his auto out of a ditch. Hamilton leads the circus to financial success and falls in love with Gypsy, the ticket-taker. To convince Jack to marry Gypsy, her supposed mother, fortune-teller Carlotta, says that she was kidnapped as a baby and shows Jack a photo in which he recognizes Gypsy's mother as the wife of Andrew Pomeroy, the financier who ruined him.

Mr. Curtis returns to his Alma mater and regales students with stories about the Civil War, which ended fifty years before. He tells them about his college friends, Dick Randolph and Watkins, who were at first rivals for Marian - who far preferred Dick - and then rivals on the battlefield.

Dodo Warren, an ingenuous young bride, decides to take her three rejected suitors - Bobo Brown, Tommy Belden, and Dr. Elliott - along with her and her husband Herb on their honeymoon. Herb's protests fall on deaf ears, and soon all five are comfortably ensconced in a Florida resort.

Ruth Hoagland grows up on the Florida Keys with no companion other than her father, a half-witted fisherman who spends most of his time hunting for buried treasure. Vacationing yachtsman Bob Winthrop and Ruth fall in love, but Winthrop returns to New York, and after a year, has forgotten Ruth. After finding two chests in a cave, Ruth locates her father unconscious from a fall. She goes to the mainland for help, but returns with the Reverend Josiah Arbuthnot and Dr. William Strong, to find her father dead. Strong, out of kindness, offers to marry her, but Ruth declines, sure that Winthrop will return.

"Mary Meacham, the most popular girl in college, goes to live with her maiden aunt, Miss Myra. Auntie is a man-hater who has various theories for testing the desirable qualities of the male sex. Mary sees a dreary man-less time before her and sends an S. O. S. to various sisters and their brothers to visit her while Auntie is away.

Roger Kendall is sent to Nashville by the editor of his magazine to sign a contract for two cents a word with a woman writer named Azalea Adair. Once there, Kendall realizes that Azalea is very poor and is also the abused wife of Major Caswell, a drunkard who takes from Azalea every cent she earns. Kendall is able to piece their story together by following the movements of a torn dollar bill, which he gives to Azalea's former slave Caesar and which eventually winds up in Caswell's hands. In order to help Azalea, Kendall convinces his editor to increase her stipend to eight cents a word and also to advance her $30.

The deformed Phantom who haunts the Paris Opera House causes murder and mayhem in an attempt to make the woman he loves a star.

A nobleman studying for the priesthood abandons his vocation in 18th Century France when he falls in love with a beautiful, but reluctant, courtesan.

"The war with Mexico serves to bring together American officer and Mexican senorita, the former all ardent and the latter defiant because of the fact that their countries are at war. Coincident with the American victory is the successful conquest by the 'gringo' of the girl's heart."

Young Irish physician Peter Blood is exiled as a slave to Barbados, where he and his friend Jeremy are purchased by Colonel Bishop at the behest of his niece Arabella. With other slaves he captures a Spanish galleon and becomes the terror of the Caribbean privateers until offered a commission in the English Navy. He defeats the French at Port Royal, and as a reward he is named governor of Jamaica and marries Arabella.