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This long and rather convoluted drama was very loosely based on the poem "Faustine" by Algernon Swinburne. It was the first film produced by William K. Ziegfeld, the lesser-known brother of theatrical producer Florenz Ziegfeld. Florence Reed (who was better known for her stage roles than her film work) plays several characters, including a mother and daughter. The woman known as the Black Panther (Reed) runs a gambling parlor and she ruthlessly ruins men's lives. Her daughter, Mary Maudsley (also Reed), is raised by her adopted father, Lord Maudsley (Earle Foxe), in the hopes that a better environment will keep her from following in her mother's footsteps. When Maudsley dies, his son, Clive (Henry Stevenson), takes control of the estate and the girl finds herself homeless. She goes against her pure nature and enters into the dark world in which her mother lived so that she can track Clive down.