Broken-down tramp Weatherby finds inspiration to change his life after seeing the play "Youth". The plot follows Weatherby as he is given money by a kind passerby, which he uses to buy a theater ticket and see the drama that becomes the catalyst for his transformation.

David McCare, a musical idol, discards his mistress, Margie, for the heiress Diana. McCare has Margie removed by his valet, Ludwig, who is also in love with Margie and eventually marries her. After McCare marries Diana, his infidelity with Diana's friend, Edna, leads to Diana divorcing him, and McCare ultimately marries Edna.

The wide-ranging storyline of The Melting Pot takes its characters from the Jewish ghettoes of Russia to the Lower East Side of New York.

Frivolous young Mrs. Pensonby Smythe, trapped in a loveless marriage, secretly accompanies the loutish "Billie" Carrington to "The House of the Mask," a notorious gambling palace where the rich play in secret with masked faces. While there Carrington attacks her and she is rescued by gambler Belmont Blair who recognizes her. In the ensuing scuffle Carrington is accidentally killed. Blair gets Mrs. Smythe out of the house before the body is discovered. In time Blair, who loves Mrs. Pensonby Smythe’s sister Grace, sacrifices himself to protect them both.

Neurologist and hypnotist Dr. Andrew Smiley is the guardian of wealthy siblings Wilfred and Marcie Redmond. Smiley wants to marry Marcia, as he desperately needs money, but when he proposes to her, she rejects him. Smiley has a secret lover, Sarah Kayton, the head nurse of his sanatorium, and she has borne him a son, Paul Kayton, who is Smiley's secretary, unaware that his boss is the father. Smiley devises a plan to have Marcia adjudged insane and take her fortune. He almost succeeds but at the last-minute he fails.

Orphaned and disabled Hope Hathaway has been left in the guardianship of the rapacious Rufus Flint and his son Abner. They scheme to force Hope to marry Abner to access her fortune but are held at bay by her faithful housekeeper Susie. Nearby a movie is being filmed and the picture's star Neil Stuart happens upon Hope one day when she is alone in a field. Concerned for her situation Neil tells Susie to contact him if he is ever needed. When Rufus and Abner make their play Neil swoops in and rescues Hope.

Peyton Carothers and Margaret Grayton want to marry but are impoverished. Margaret makes a calculated bargain with the wealthy Robert Van Allen to marry him for a million dollars. He agrees feeling he can win her love. What he doesn't know is she continues to see Carothers. When Van Allen discovers the duplicity he shackles the pair together and forces them to live together in a remote location. It does not go well with the lovers ending up hating each other and Carothers turning violent. Ultimately Margaret sees the error of her ways and stays with Van Allen.

Margot is the pawn in a game set up by her father, "Old Bill" Prewitt, and her husband, Tom Sloan. They use her to fleece gamblers until a gun fight results in serious injuries for both Tom and Bill. Bill thinks Tom is dead and takes Margot across country. He finally collapses from exhaustion and they are found by a trapper.

Katherine Mortimer, a wealthy and eccentric young woman, spending the summer at the seaside with Mrs. Cochran, her aunt and companion, learns that she has been abandoned by her fiancé, Horace Castlebury, who has run off with Ethel Van Eltinge, a brewer's daughter. The headstrong Katherine vows to marry the first man she meets. She almost immediately enters into a marriage of convenience with Bill, but finds herself falling for the guy. After making a fool of herself when Horace unexpectedly shows up all ends happily when Bill knocks out Horace and tells Katherine he loves her too.

The Conscience of John David (1916) tells the story of a wealthy spender who promises marriage to a "Worldly Woman" and plans a big announcement party. Their engagement is interrupted by another admirer, the "Libertine," and John David's life is disrupted by scandal and societal pressure, ultimately leading him to seek a more meaningful existence and a deeper love beyond superficial pleasures.

Marion, who has kept house for her father since her mother's death, has two suitors, Rufus Strong, the village blacksmith, and Eph Little, the village beau brummel.