Summary
In the volatile atmosphere of 1917 New Jersey, Teddy Rutherford emerges as a frenetic evangelist for national preparedness, transforming his tranquil community into a clattering industrial hub of munitions production. This ideological fervor, however, collides with the domestic reality of his romantic aspirations. Teddy finds himself enamored with Pacific Ford, the scion of a militant pacifist whose convictions are as rigid as Teddy’s own. When Pacific rejects his advances in favor of a milksop non-interventionist, Teddy’s psychic equilibrium fractures. A night of existential despair and heavy libations ends in a jail cell, where he awakens to the tender ministrations of Janie Smith, the deputy sheriff’s daughter. In a quintessential Fairbanksian subversion of the carceral state, Teddy finds the prison walls to be a sanctuary for his burgeoning affection. Yet, when the sheriff, plagued by a mysterious serial bomber targeting the local armories, attempts to expel Teddy under the guise of health concerns, the protagonist embarks on a desperate, slapstick odyssey to regain his prisoner status. His attempts at petty criminality—ranging from jurisdictional speeding errors to the disruption of pacifist rallies—fail miserably until he assumes the identity of the very anarchist the state fears. The narrative reaches a fever pitch as Teddy narrowly escapes a lynch mob to apprehend the genuine culprit, thereby reconciling his martial spirit with his romantic destiny through a chaotic, satirical lens.
Synopsis
In New Jersey lives Teddy Rutherford, a vigorous exponent of preparedness. Before the populace realize it, the community becomes a hive of munition manufacturers. Teddy falls in love with Pacifice Ford, who happens to be the daughter of an extreme pacifist When Teddy's courtship is refused in favor of a youthful pacifist, the youth vows that he is through with the fair sex for all time and imbibes freely in spirits nectareal. On awakening the next morning he finds himself in jail with a girl nursing his discolored optic, the cause for which he does not seem to be able to remember. After becoming acquainted with his fair nurse, Teddy decides that the world is not so bad after all, and when he learns that she is Janie Smith, the deputy sheriff's daughter who is never allowed to venture outside the prison grounds by her watchful parent, he welcomes with joy the information that he is sentenced for thirty days in jail. Someone's mania for placing bombs under Jersey ammunition plants and blowing them into the thin air disturbs the sheriff's peace of mind to the extent of promising the hand of his daughter to the person who can throw some light on the mystery. When his worries are at their height the sheriff discovers the new trend of Janie's affections and orders the prison authorities to allow Teddy to go free on the ground that the prisoner's health is in great danger. The latter finding that he is by no means a welcome caller at the jail, decides that he will get back, and proceeds to live the life of an unlawful citizen. He tries speeding only to find that he has crossed the city line and is sent to the wrong jail. Breaking up a pacifist meeting conducted by the father and fiancé of his former sweetheart, robbing a house, and other disorderly acts fail to attain the desired results. As a last resort Teddy impersonates the mysterious stranger who has been sending the munition plants skyward, from a description of the culprit which has been spread broad-cast. He finally realizes his great ambition but is given little time to rejoice over his success for things take an abrupt and serious turn when he discovers that he has no means of proving that he is not the desperate criminal he is impersonating. Fate intervenes, however, at the last minute just as Teddy is about to be lynched by the angry Jerseyites and not only does he go free but he catches the real criminal, thus winning the hand of his sweetheart.
