Summary
A tapestry of romantic disillusionment and geopolitical absurdity, An American Live Wire unfurls the odyssey of Willard Geddie, a man propelled into exile by the machinations of a social-climbing matriarch. When Ida Payne’s fortune-hunting mother fabricates a rejection, Geddie retreats to the lethargic, sun-drenched shores of Coralio, a fictional South American enclave where time dissolves into tropical malaise. This static existence is shattered by a confluence of criminal intent and mistaken identities: the local President plots a larcenous escape with an American chanteuse, while an authentic embezzler from the States inadvertently falls into Geddie’s clutches, leading to a grim, self-inflicted end for the fugitive. The arrival of the faithful Ida catalyzes further chaos as she is erroneously branded a mistress and barred from the very shore she sought for reunion. Through a series of slapstick jurisdictional blunders and O. Henry’s signature ironic reversals, the narrative culminates in a restoration of order, wealth, and romantic union, extracting Geddie from his 'live wire' predicament to return him to the New York skyline with both his honor and his heart intact.
Synopsis
When Willard Geddie is told by his sweetheart Ida Payne's fortune-hunting mother that Ida no longer wishes to see him, the heartbroken man leaves New York and accepts an official position in the small South American country of Coralio. He lives an idle life there until news arrives that the President of Coralio and his mistress, an American opera singer, are planning to abscond with the country's treasury. By mistake, Geddie captures the President of an American insurance company who is trying to enter Coralio with embezzled money, after which the criminal commits suicide. Meanwhile, Ida arrives in South America looking for Geddie, but she is erroneously identified as the President's mistress and refused permission to come ashore. A detective from New York later arrests the President and the opera singer, believing them to be the embezzler and his wife. Finally the confusion is cleared up and Geddie returns to New York with the stolen insurance money and Ida.
