R. Cecil Smith

A farmer is unjustly convicted of a homicide he did not commit.

Young Polly-Ann works in a small town inn as a maidservant. A troupe of actors comes to town and the innocent girl falls in love with one of its members. Howard Straightlane is sent to the small town by his father, to work as a schoolteacher in hopes of smartening up the young man from his wild ways. Howard soon meets Polly-Ann and saves her from the unscrupulous actor.

A musical-comedy troupe headed by prima donna Corinne Melrose is stranded in the little town of Nilesburg, Arizona, when the show's manager leaves town with all the money. When Corinne spends her last cent on a train ticket for one of the girls, she is advised by the station agent to seek assistance from a kindhearted old lady called Aunt Tiny Colvin. Aunt Tiny takes Corinne in but confesses that she, too, is in dire financial straits because the moneylender to whom she owes $200, Deacon Simpson, has demanded repayment. The deacon, a married man, becomes enamored of Corinne and makes improper advances towards her. Corinne threatens to expose his behavior to his wife and the townspeople unless he surrenders Aunt Tiny's bank notes, and to avoid the scandal, he complies. Billy Penrose, a tenor who is in love with Corinne, arrives in Nilesburg with news of vaudeville openings in New York, but she has become enchanted by the little town and convinces him to settle there with her. - From AFI

Silent directed by Victor Schertzinger

The Country Cousin

Insecure Beatrice Ridley lets her jealousy of her husband get the better of her when he begins receiving letters each morning from the Honeysuckle Inn, a roadhouse frequented by sportsmen. Consulting young attorneys, Widgast and Pidgeon, she finds their wives also suspicious about the goings on at the Honeysuckle Inn. Madcap complications ensue when all the characters meet there before everything is straightened out for all three couples.

Frank Prentiss, a multi-millionaire who hates and distrusts women, convinces his adopted son, Jack, that they are detrimental to a man's success. The overworked Frank is forced to rest at the country home of his friend, Mr. Gray, where he meets and falls in love with the host's daughter, Kate. She refuses his proposal at first, but later accepts because her father, who has two younger children, is experiencing financial difficulties. Following the wedding, Kate is subjected to Frank's verbal abuse and seeks solace with Jack. Their friendship enrages Frank, who tortures them with his accusations. During a dinner party, Frank accuses Jack and Kate of being lovers in front of the male guests. Jack is restrained from accosting his father, but Frank suffers a fatal heart attack. Later, Jack and Kate fall in love and are married.

When Keene McComb, a young explorer on an expedition to the North Pole, is given up for lost, his fiancée, Hester Thorpe, is coerced by an ambitious aunt into marrying Martin Ward, a man of reputed wealth. McComb survives, however, and returns to New York a few hours after the marriage. Later, Hester seeks his protection when Ward strikes her because of her refusal to ask McComb for money, and when it appears that Ward has committed suicide she and McComb are married. Ward is still alive, however, but he meets his death on a rocky precipice.

Nell Bradley, the daughter of a wealthy bootlegger, who is encouraged to improve herself through education by Reverend Charles Alden.

Pretty young Nell Bradley is the daughter of a saloonkeeper in a "dry" town, and is looked down upon by townspeople, but Rev. Charles Alden, the town minister, finds himself attracted to her. One day at Nell's father's bar, a traveling salesman gets a young woman intoxicated, intending to "have his way" with her. Nell sees this and gets the bartender to save the young woman's virtue, but just at that moment Rev. Alden walks in and mistakenly believes that Nell has gotten the girl drunk. Complications ensue.

A fortune-hunting follies star Gloria Dawn ( Olive Thomas ), begins to question her engagement to wealthy Peter Shaw after meeting an amnesiac young man who stumbles into her apartment one night. The doctor instructs that he not be moved, so Gloria nurses the stranger back to health, although his memory fails to return. Gloria falls in love with her patient and, upon discovering that he is millionaire sportsman Jerry O'Farrell, rushes home to restore his identity, only to find that he has gone. Amnesia continues to plague Jerry, and he soon forgets both Gloria's name and address. While he is attending a show at the follies, a fire breaks out, and Gloria, recognizing her lover in the audience, rushes to save him. Meanwhile, Shaw, who has discovered Gloria's feelings for Jerry, accosts her. Jerry, who has finally regained his memory, intercedes and rescues Gloria, and the two fall in love.

When sawmill owner Helen Cole is kidnapped by bandits, it falls on lumberjack Dan Stevens to rescue her, but "Wirenail" Hedges is not willing to give up without a fight. Originally a fifteen-episode serial, all that is known to survive of "Smashing Barriers" today is this single reel abridgment created for the home movie market in 1932.