La tempesta in un cranio (Tempest in a Cranium) is an anarchic, quasi-surreal Italian comedy of multiple delights in which the timorous scion of a wealthy family is gaslit by his friends in order to prove that his fears of hereditary insanity are hogwash.
French Canadian trapper Victor Raoul returns to the trading post at St. Ignace to find a rival for the affections of Yvonne, his business partner's daughter, in the Marquis Courtière, Parisian representative of the fur company.
When her father, an indigent artist, dies, Sylvia Lacey goes to live with her Aunt Martha and her uncle, Judge Trent, in New England, where she is unwanted and humiliated.
Two men, Philip Whittemore (Henry B. Walthall) and Thorpe (Harry Northrup) both go to the Northwest to gain the right-of-way for their railroad company from D'Arcambal (Emmett King).
Chorus girl Peggy Malone, supporting her father and brother, marries press agent Jimmy Parsons. They settle into a quiet life until her "shiftless" relatives move in, causing marital strain and financial pressure.
William Fielding, a young widower, is living in Shanghai with his little boy, David. A young Chinese woman looks after the child, and Foo Chang, a trader, lusts after her.