Summary
In the chiaroscuro of post-war American mores, Blackmail stages a danse macabre where gilt-edged respectability rubs against the greasepaint of the con. Flossie Golden—part siren, part confidence charlatan—descends upon the plush drawing rooms of James Venable, a man whose fortune arrived by inheritance and whose gullibility was hand-delivered by destiny. Her weapon: a breach-of-promise suit sharp enough to slice his reputation into confetti. Enter Richard Harding, attorney-cum-puppeteer, who flips the trap: marry the mark, settle for a paltry three grand a year, and trade champagne dreams for gilded cage realities. Flossie, stung by the humiliation, swivels from predator to prey when she reinvents herself as Innocence Page—an ironic baptism that fools no one yet seduces everyone, Harding included. What begins as vengeance veers into amour fou; the grifter becomes bride, and the erstwhile accomplice Larry slithers in waving Polaroids of her past like receipts from hell. But Harding, sphinx-smiled, has already audited those books. Larry exits empty-handed, Flossie exits hitched, and the audience exits wondering who conned whom.
Synopsis
Confidence artist Flossie Golden attempts to fleece foolish but wealthy James Venable with a breach-of-promise suit. Venable's shrewd attorney, Richard Harding, outwits Flossie by proposing that she marry Venable and live on an allowance of $3,000 per year. Flossie is determined to get even with Harding for ruining her plans. In an attempt to con him, she poses as Innocence Page, but falls in love and marries him instead. Larry, Flossie's former accomplice, endeavors to blackmail her with her errant past, but Harding is already cognizant of the facts and Larry fails.
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