Summary
Manhattan’s chromium midnight drapes itself across Molly’s sculpted cheekbones as she poses for flashbulbs that taste of sulfur and ambition; a mannequin to the world, she secretly counts the cents in her threadbare purse. From the catwalk she spies the boss’s heir—an upholstered predator in white spats—offering orchids and Park-Avenue promises, but her pupils dilate not for him but for the diffident shipping clerk who smells of ink and salt rope, a quiet cartographer of crates who dreams of picket fences in Queens. One humid dusk, rumors—those perfumed assassins—whisper that the clerk has traded her affections for a promotion; pride detonates, she flees into the heir’s velvet trap, a champagne suite where mirrors reflect only transaction. There, under cut-crystal chandeliers, the heir unveils his ledger of flesh, but the city’s nocturnal choir—elevated trains, tugboat horns, the heartbeat she once shared—crashes through her like a second conscience. She races back to the docks, stockings laddered, mascara comet-tails on pallid cheeks, arriving as the clerk signs his resignation, suitcase in hand. A single tear, phosphorescent in river light, baptizes their reunion; dawn smolders over Brooklyn, sky the color of marmalade, and for the first time the skyline does not look like bars.
Synopsis
Glamorous New York model Molly (Marie Prevost) yearns for a life of luxury but spurns the advances of her boss' son in favor of a shipping clerk. Their plans for marriage and a suburban home are nearly ruined by a misunderstanding on her part; she is nearly compromised by the boss' son but is brought to her senses and returns to the man she loves.
Director
Cast
