It has been said that casting Richard Barthelmess as the Indian chief justifies the name of the Indian chief justifies the name of this movie without considering the plot. The film, although founded upon a real issue in the problems of the administration of the Indian Reservations, is worked into the usual melodramatic show with whizzing motorcycles, howling savages, and pistol shots fired at close range.

The story begins with Chief "Thunder Horse, who left his native haunts at an early age to attend Haskell Institute and never returned, in a wild west show at the Chicago World's Fair, lionized by the young society matrons, and swilling down cocktails with the best of them. Hearing that his father is hill, and being temporarily fed up with his play boy existence, he jumps into his special custom model roadster, and sets out for the reservation. When he arrives there finding his father dying, unattended by the government doctor, and discovering the graft-ridden administration makes him burn for revenge, and when his sister is raped by the funeral director during his father's burial service, he sets out for revenge, lassos the culprit in his spending roadster, and drags him along the road behind.

Joe is then jailed, but escapes with the aid of Lydia, the beautiful Indian maiden and travels to Washington, where he enlists the aid of a sympathetic Indian Commissioner, and by making his case a test issue, obtains a new deal for the oppressed redskin.

The other picture, Moulin Rouge, revolves around Constance Bennett, who nourishes a violent desire to play in musical comedy, against the wishes of husband Franchot Tone. She trades places with the French star imported for the production, and not only plays, but seduces her own husband into the bargain. There is less attention paid to the staging of the show than usual, with corresponding emphasis upon the boudoir. The usual bevy of maidens sparingly covered with broken glass is included.