The adventurous Lady Edwina Esketh travels to the princely state of Ranchipur in India with her husband, Lord Albert Esketh, who is there to purchase some of the Maharajah's horses. She's surprised to meet an old friend, Tom Ransome who came to Ranchipur seven years before to moxia.cc paint the Maharajah's portrait and just stayed on. Ransome has developed something of a reputation - for womanizing and drinking too much - but that's OK with Edwina who is bored and looking for fun. She soon meets the local doctor, the hard working and serious Major Rama Safti. He doesn't immediately respond to her advances but when the seasonal rains come, disaster strikes when a dam fails, flooding much of the countryside. Disease soon sets in and everyone, including Ransome and Edwina, work at a non-stop pace to save as many as possible. Safti deeply admires Edwina's sacrifice but fate intervenes.

安娜（葛丽泰·嘉宝 Greta Garbo 饰）是一名妓女，她的父亲终日沉迷于酒精之中，对女儿毫不关心。除了要照顾父亲之外，安娜还要照顾父亲的姘头玛瑟（玛丽·杜丝勒 Marie Dressler 饰）。玛瑟是一个狡猾又贪婪的女人，常常在安娜的身上揩油。 　　一次，安娜生病住进了医院，好不容易出院后，安娜发誓再也不要过以前那种糜烂的生活了。她决定金盆洗手洗心革面。住进了父亲的小船的安娜过了一段平静的日子，一天，一位名叫马特（查尔斯·比克福德 Charles Bickford 饰）的海员闯入了安娜的生活，他疯狂的爱上了安娜。马特的存在让安娜开始相信爱情，对未来产生了憧憬。

屡次被驱逐出境的歌舞女郎琼斯又偷渡返回美国，她唯一的希望就是找个当地男人嫁掉然后可以留下，然而她的男朋友已经娶了新媳妇，倒霉透顶的琼斯于是找到老实的小说家比尔，打算和他协商结婚，然而比尔并不蠢，他有更多的想法，想得到更多

本片的基调基本阐述妻子和秘书两者的重要性，若男士是工作狂，那他会跟秘书相处的时间会久些；若把家庭排在人生首要位置，那宅家（即是面妻）的时间亦会久些。