Summary
In the neon‑lit underbelly of a Times Square hotel, the concierge corps enforce an arbitrary hierarchy, denying entry to anyone who does not first acquiesce to the whims of the enigmatic millionaire John Stonehouse, who has claimed the notorious room 420 as his sanctuary. Desperate and teetering on the brink of self‑destruction after inadvertently ingesting a lethal toxin, Stonehouse contemplates suicide in the cramped bathroom of his suite. A sudden gunshot from an adjoining chamber shatters the silence, drawing him to a grisly tableau: Gilberte Bonheur, a poised yet haunted woman, cradles the limp form of Aaron Witt, a blackmailer whose own greed has turned murderous. She claims she fired the shot in self‑defence, repelling Witt’s attempted assault. Rather than flee, Stonehouse, already resigned to death, offers to shoulder the culpability, seeing in the crime a final absolution. He escapes the scene only after seizing a glittering emerald that Witt had used to extort Gilberte, a jewel that becomes the fulcrum of the ensuing intrigue. The hotel staff, complicit and opportunistic, conspire with Gilberte and Witt to manipulate the narrative, while Stonehouse, now a reluctant accomplice, aids Gilberte in concealing Witt’s battered body. Witt, however, revives, demanding the emerald—or its monetary equivalent—under threat of exposing their conspiracy. In a desperate bid to settle the debt, Stonehouse pens a check and departs, clutching a theater ticket gifted by Gilberte. The poisoned victim’s antidote, concocted by his private chemist, restores Stonehouse’s health just as he arrives at the theater, where the very drama he escaped is being reenacted onstage. Backstage, Gilberte reveals that the entire charade was orchestrated to persuade a skeptical critic that such a convoluted plot could, in fact, transpire. Their confession of mutual affection concludes the far‑cooked ruse, leaving the audience to ponder the thin line between performance and reality.
Synopsis
The clerks at a New York hotel near Times Square turn away customers until they approve millionaire John Stonehouse and give him room 420. While attempting suicide, John hears a shot from a nearby room. Finding Gilberte Bonheur bending over the limp body of Aaron Witt, whom, she says, she shot when he tried to assault her, John, wanting to die anyway, offers to take the blame. He escapes after recovering an emerald that Witt used to blackmail Gilberte. After Gilberte, Witt, and the clerks conspire, John helps Gilberte hide Witt, who revives and demands the emerald or its value. John writes a check and leaves taking a theater ticket given to him by Gilbert. John, who contemplated suicide because he accidentally drank a strange poison, now receives an antidote which his chemist created. Cured, he goes to the theater and sees the happenings in the hotel enacted. Backstage, Gilberte explains that the ruse was to prove to a critic that the plot could really happen. They then confess their mutual love.
Review Excerpt
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A Sporting Chance: A Decade‑Old Thriller That Still Plays With Fate
When the silent‑era catalog of American cinema is sifted for titles that combine melodramatic excess with a razor‑sharp commentary on class and desperation, A Sporting Chance (1925) surfaces as a surprisingly sophisticated specimen. Directed by an unnamed visionary of the period, the film weaves together a labyrinthine plot that feels more akin to a modern‑day heist narrative than a relic of the Roaring Twenties.
The open..."
