Alma Rubens

Two families, abolitionist Northerners the Stonemans and Southern landowners the Camerons, intertwine. When Confederate colonel Ben Cameron is captured in battle, nurse Elsie Stoneman petitions for his pardon. In Reconstruction-era South Carolina, Cameron founds the Ku Klux Klan, battling Elsie's congressman father and his African-American protégé, Silas Lynch.

The story of a poor young woman, separated by prejudice from her husband and baby, is interwoven with tales of intolerance from throughout history.

Judith Wingate has married for wealth, but desires love, while her friend Marion Gregory has married for love, but longs for wealth. Chester Wingate refuses to grant Judith a divorce, even though he is having an affair and Judith has taken wealthy Oliver Sloan for a lover.

Mynderse Van Dyun, a wealthy old New York aristocrat, has one goal in life, to see his granddaughter Catherine and grandson Pell married; for, although they are cousins, the marriage would perpetuate the family name. Catherine, however, is in love with Paul La Farge and detests her drug-addicted cousin, who seduces and then secretly marries her maid, Nora Duffy.

Disgusted when the police department fails to apprehend the murderer of her guardian, Henri Du Bois, Celeste decides to track down the criminal herself. Her only clue is a cuff link dropped near the scene of the crime on which a sphinx is engraved, and with it, she wanders through Paris' tough Moulin Noir district. When she notices a young man wearing a tie pin of identical design, she cultivates his acquaintance and eventually asks him to visit her in her home. His suspicious behavior there convinces Celeste that he is the guilty party, and although she has fallen in love with him, she has him arrested, whereupon she learns that he is Du Bois' missing son, Andre. Further detective work reveals that the real murderer is Celeste's rejected suitor, Raoul Laverne. Upon his confession, Andre is released and eventually marries Celeste.

Young Leon Kanter dreams of being a great violinist. His parents scrape up the money for a violin and for lessons, and Leon rewards them by becoming a great player. But as an adult, Leon finds that people want more from him than just music.

Social worker John Warfield meets socialist radical Guido Garcia, and together they establish a refuge in San Francisco for life's unfortunates.

Giulia, a Neapolitan girl, much against her will, becomes the mistress of a wealthy gangster. Her "protector" is stabbed to death by Giulia's hot-headed musician lover Tony (Francis McDonald), whereupon the heroine takes refuge in the villa of French playwright La Farge. Under La Farge's careful tutelage, Giulia develops into a famous actress, capturing the heart of the Duke De Chaumont. Though LaFarge himself has fallen in love with the girl, he does not stand in her way when she accepts the Duke's proposal. But Giulia has not reckoned with Tony, who is still crazy about her and still willing to kill any man who stands in his way. Tony murders LaFarge, then sets his sights on the Duke, intending to kill the poor fellow during the wedding ceremony. Hoping to save the Duke's life, Giulia pretends to have fallen out of love with him and returns to Tony.