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The role of American millionaire turned office clerk was quite a turnaround from playing an Indian rajah in The Green Goddess. Even so, character actor George Arliss was able to make just about any part uniquely his own, and in spite of his queer looks, became an incredibly popular film star. Here, he is steel magnate John Reeves, who is fed up with his lazy son, Chester (Ronald Colman). He cuts the young man off with only 20 dollars a week, then to set a good example, goes out and gets a job as a clerk at a rival steel company. His boss, William Hart (Taylor Holmes), is annoyed because his sister, Muriel (Edith Roberts), had adopted a little boy (Joseph Donohue). So he decides to "adopt" Reeves as his father. In the midst all of this domestic havoc, Reeves discovers that Hart's competitors are trying to ruin him. He helps save Hart's business, and when he reveals his true identity, the two men form a partnership. Meanwhile, Chester -- who has gone to work and made good -- forms a marriage partnership with Muriel. This picture was based on Franklin Adams' novel, The Adopted Father.