Extravagant-living Helen Douglas and her wealthy husband, broker Alan Douglas, live beyond their means. Alan's friend, Billy Braden, tries to convince them to join him in leaving New York for the more peaceful West, but they refuse. After Helen quarrels with Alan because he will not buy her a $30,000 pearl necklace, she goes to her room. When a policeman comes to arrest Alan for embezzlement of funds to provide for Helen's extravagances, Alan kills the policeman and is sentenced to die in the electric chair. Helen, as she pleads to the judge, awakens to discover that she has been dreaming. She rushes to Alan's office and in the middle of a Wall Street panic, refuses to give him her savings to prevent his ruin. He denounces her in public, but at home she offers all her money for them to leave the city and lead a decent life elsewhere. He accepts this and embraces her.—AFI
Helen Douglas is married to Alan Douglas, a Wall Street investor. Helen dresses extravagantly in expensive gowns and jewelry, and spends lavishly. Billy Braden, a friend of the couple's, decides to move to Denver, away from the fast life in the city. He urges his friends to move with him. But Alan is planning to make a big killing in the stock market, and Helen laughs at the idea that the two would move away from New York City. She advises Alan to stay the course, and also asks him to buy her a costly necklace. An argument ensues, and Alan tells Helen to use her own money to buy the necklace. Helen runs to her room, weeping.
She falls asleep and she dreams that Alan has failed in his venture; he tells her he is bankrupt. Desperate, he has forged a check to get money. Alan then kills a policeman who tries to arrest him. He is tried for murder and sentenced to death in the electric chair. Helen begs the court for mercy, but still doesn't show any remorse.
Helen awakens from her sleep, and discovers Alan has gone to his office. She rushes to Wall Street and finds that Alan, who has been double-crossed by one of his millionaire friends, is on the verge of being wiped out in a stock panic. Alan pleads with Helen to lend him her money so he can save himself from financial ruin. She refuses, and Alan gets violent, shaking her by the shoulders. He denounces her as a woman who has taken everything from him and given him nothing in return. He threatens to strike her, but Helen remains firm in her refusal. When she returns home, she has a change of heart. But it is too late. Alan comes home, bankrupt. Helen tells Alan that Braden was right; living in the city has robbed them of their ideals. She offers Alan all her money so that the two can move away, and begin useful lives. The two embrace, ready for a lifetime of happiness.
