Richard Duvall is a young American detective in the employ of the French Secret Police. While in Paris he meets Grace Ellicot, also an American, with whom he falls in love.
A short comic film in which a bickering duo start a taxi company. A constantly quarrelling duo, consisting of a tall fat man and a short thin man, find a wallet on the street, with twenty dollars inside.
Emphasizing themes of female independence and the esteem due to the men serving in the armed forces, the plot involves a strong-willed young woman (Agnes Vernon) who defies her father in order to marry a soldier (Hobart Henly) instead of the well-to-do suitor preferred by her father.
Out of the blue, war is declared, making two otherwise friendly neighbouring nations deadly enemies. Amid the inferno, finding themselves on different sides of the conflict, Elsa and Alexis are forced to call off their engagement.
Movie mogul Thomas H. Ince may well have been the director of The Despoiler as indicated by the credits; but since Ince was known far and wide as a glory-hogger, it's also possible that one of his talented lieutenants wielded the megaphone.
Lord John, a detective novelist and the Marquis of Haslemere's brother, receives word that the stage adaption of one of his stories will not be performed because Roger Odell, a millionaire, has spoken against him.