Richard Wayne
Dick Tyler is the junior partner in the law firm of Knight and Tyler. He tries to convince his partner, Jim Tyler, than it's cheaper to be married than to continually "play the field". The main reason he's doing that is because Jim is obsessed with the beautiful Evelyn, a gold-digger on whom Jim is spending prodigious amounts of money. Things take a turn for the worse when his spending on her gets to the point where it's placing the firm dangerously close to bankruptcy. Something has to be done.
Billy Benson has a reputation as a "bad boy" largely due to his habit of winding up in fist fights. Billy is usually fighting to defend his dad's reputation. John Benson is the town ne'er-do-well: a failed inventor who has labored the past 20 years on what he believes is a revolutionary fire extinguisher. Wealthy businessman Walter Howe realizes that it really is a million-dollar idea, and plots...
Inventor Peter Marchmont has discovered a purple light that renders the user invisible. On his release from prison, Marchmont, disguised as Victor Cromport, uses the light to revenge himself against his former wife, Jewel, and her partner, James Dawson, who framed him for theft. Making himself invisible, Marchmont gradually ruins Dawson. He so wins Jewel's confidence and love that she is willing to kill Dawson at Marchmont's request. Finally, Marchmont leaves the scheming couple to their own misery and marries Jewel's sister, Ruth Marsh.
James Berkeley (who wants to get rich) and Allan Franklin (determined to be a great engineer) are rivals for the hand of Lois Miller. Berkeley marries her, and 15 years later, though he has not realized his ambition, he keeps his wife luxuriously attired as a "trademark" of his prosperity. Allan, who has obtained a large tract of oil land from the Mexican Government, visits the Berkeleys; and James, hoping to profit from his wealth, goes to Mexico with him, accompanied by Lois, who unwillingly agrees to help her husband. When Allan and Lois realize their love for each other, James, refusing to become angry, is denounced by his wife. A band of Mexican bandits attempt to capture Lois, and in the attack James is slain. Allan rescues Lois, and they escape across the border.
A young man infiltrates the underworld by pretending to be a convicted burglar. While undercover, he meets a young woman who turns out to be no more a part of gangland than he, but with similar reasons for disguising herself.
Oscar Krug is looked upon with suspicion by his neighbors because of his German name. When the US is drawn into the war with Germany, he enlists and travels the seas with his wife, Alice Morse. During a submarine attack Alice is snatched from Krug's side by a German officer. Krug now lives to have his revenge, and when the opportunity presents itself, he will have it.
Walsingham Van Dorn has a fancy name but no money until he inherits 40 million dollars from a pair of wealthy, but wicked, uncles.
After obtaining a divorce from his second wife Emily, Roy Tappan marries Dora Carson, who has just divorced her husband. Left poor with two children, Emily marries Walter Heath, a former suitor, then discovers that she cannot live with her new husband because the divorce is not legal in her home state. Tappan and his new wife soon run out of money, each having thought the other was wealthy. His aunt promises to support him in exchange for his two children. He kidnaps the children and hides them from Emily in his aunt's home. After Emily and Walter find them, they go to Yellowstone Park, where they are considered legally married. Tappan follows and is killed after a fight with Walter when a boiling geyser throws him into the air and throws him onto the rocks below.
