Virtue's Revolt (1924)

Strelsa Cane, a successful stock actress, comes to New York and meets with reverses in her endeavor to get a start on the New York stage. Through a ruse she finally sees Winthrope, a successful manager, who is impressed with her ability but demands that she make a dishonorable bargain with him as the price of stardom. She refuses. Put out of her room for non-payment of rent, she seeks refuge in a house to which she has found the keys. Steve, the brother of the owner, finds her and denounces her, believing she is the woman with whom his brother has an affair. Later he learns the truth and insists that he will marry her, but she has accepted the manager's offer in desperation. Her debut proves a big success and as she prepared to keep her part of the contract, Steve appears. In a fight with Winthrope, he is struck from behind the curtain by his discontented valet, and Steve and Strelsa decide to go West and begin all over again together.