Else Riedel (Lissy Arna), locked out by her authoritarian father, seeks refuge with her boyfriend Hans. Complications threaten when Hans's roommate Max falls in love with her, but the situation is resolved: the three remain friends, and decide to form a music hall act. They want to ascend, but how? A way out beckons when a theatrical agent named Nevin enters Else’s life. He is played by Hubert von Meyerinck as a slick and oily villain, who oozes refinement; his experience behind bars is waved away with a silk scarf. He is cunning to the point of perfidiousness, but is not completely unsympathetic. He also embodies a new type - the scrounger.

Tatjana is a tale of Russia, the Bolshevik uprising and revolution in a rural setting, entwined with a story of desire and deception. The first intertitle reads, “Fate tires now and then of painting pretty coloured pictures. In such a mood she takes the Blacks and Reds of Human Passion and paints a stark tragedy…” The scene opens on a manservant, drawing back the curtains and discovering his master slumped over at his desk. He is dead. The Chief of Police arrives to interrogate the household and discovers the dead man’s wife purposely sent all the servants out to the theatre the night before… what was the reason for her actions? A letter will explain all as the film delves into the characters’ past through flashback…

Orphan Enid White becomes the ward of a cruel man. She gets close to her guardian's wife and also to his son, who secretly comes to visit when his father is not around. One evening Enid is whipped by the patriarch, and hours later he is found dead. An investigation follows.