Safely from behind some shrubbery, Johnny Hume, a boy of 6 or 7, witnesses the slaughter of his mother, father and brother by the guns of a gang led by "the Cat". Twenty years later finds Johnny grown to manhood, an expert bronc rider and target shooter - but paralyzed with fearful memories in an actual gunfight. This is brought home to him when some outlaws stick up the local saloon and Johnny ends up cowering behind the bar.

On the eve of his execution, a vice-rackets bigshot recalls his various exploits in crimes such as abortion and white slavery, in which he frequently operated under an alias.

Reporter Steve Haines, on the trail of a business tycoon, follows his subject onto an ocean liner and gets wound up in a cruise full of intrigue, romance and murder.

Guests at a luxury hotel are horrified when they witness a man literally "disappear into thin air." The vanished man's relatives hire a detective, who goes to the hotel to investigate the disappearance.

Uncle Claude goes on vacation with his granddaughters and meets and dislikes boisterous Letty. When he finds nephew Tommy, he mistakes Grace for his wife, unaware that he is married to Letty. To get a check from Uncle Claude, the two couples switch spouses.

A law student becomes an outlaw French revolutionary when he decides to avenge the unjust killing of his friend. To get close to the aristocrat who has killed his friend, the student adopts the identity of Scaramouche the clown.