An Even Break

Summary

A sun-dappled Arcadia fractures under the electric glare of Broadway marquees when Claire Curtis—part sylph, part steel—trades meadowlarks for footlights, her silhouette swallowed by the velvet maw of the city. Jimmie Strong, tinkerer of gears and daydreams, follows with a contraption that hums like a secret; his heart, still rustic, beats in 3/4 time for the girl who now glows under carbon-arc moons. Back home, two Harding brothers—mirror images of avarice—cast long shadows across the workshop floor, their fingers itching to stamp another man’s miracle with their own seal. Into this crucible glides Mary, country dew still in her hair, announcing a hunger for Jimmie that rewrites every loyalty. Claire’s renunciation is no mere self-sacrifice; it is a curtain falling on her own soul, the spotlight left blazing for an understudy who will never own the role. Yet when patent papers start to bleed ink and banknotes turn to ash, the triangle buckles: Mary’s devotion cools, Claire’s armor cracks, and the trio race midnight trains toward a barn that smells of sawdust and betrayal, hoping to snatch a future already auctioned to the highest smirk.

Synopsis

Claire Curtis, Jimmie Strong and Mary have spent their childhood together in the country. Upon reaching adulthood, Claire goes to New York and becomes a success on stage. Jimmie, who has always dreamed of becoming an inventor, goes to New York to sell the machine he invented, and there he renews his acquaintance with Claire. Soon their old friendship ripens into love. Meanwhile, back in the country, Ralph and David Harding, who are making Jimmie's machine, plan to steal the right to it. Back in New York, Mary appears and informs Claire that she loves Jimmie, and the actress resolves to give her a chance to win him. When it appears that the Hardings' scheme to steal Jimmie's machine will succeed, however, Mary's ardor turns cold. Claire and Jimmie then rush back to the country in time to avert the takeover and save his firm from bankruptcy.