Summary
In 'The End of the Rainbow,' a compelling silent-era drama, Ruth Bennett, the intellectually astute daughter of powerful lumber magnate Elihu Bennett, actively defies societal expectations. Rather than embrace a life of leisure, she cultivates a sharp business acumen and dedicates herself to charitable endeavors. Her path dramatically converges with Jerry Simpson, a principled law student and scion of independent timber owners whose ancestral lands are aggressively coveted by Bennett's ruthless corporate machine. Jerry's fervent appeals for justice against the lumber monopoly's predatory acquisition tactics prove futile, consistently undermined by the insidious influence of Ferdinand Stocker, the monopoly's unscrupulous operative in the Redwood forests.
Undeterred by her father's resistance to her working in his office, Ruth, through an elaborate subterfuge involving a genuine applicant, assumes the identity of 'Kitty Mitchell' and infiltrates Stocker's lumber camp as a stenographer. Her clandestine mission is fraught with peril, especially when Stocker, armed with newspaper clippings detailing the real Kitty Mitchell's scandalous past, attempts to blackmail Ruth after she emphatically rebuffs his unwelcome advances. Amidst this treacherous environment, Ruth and Jerry forge an unexpected alliance, their shared idealism blossoming as they champion the welfare of the exploited lumbermen, notably by establishing a vital library.
Their collaborative efforts soon expose Stocker's deeper corruption: a conspiracy with his foreman, Bill Hardy, to defraud Ruth's own father through fabricated reports. The escalating conflict climaxes in a visceral confrontation over 'Old Sentinel,' a majestic Redwood standing on Simpson's property. Stocker's determined effort to fell this natural landmark sparks Jerry's valiant but ultimately brutalized resistance. Witnessing Jerry's near-fatal beating, Ruth's resolve hardens; she arms him, leading to Hardy's wounding. Stocker, having observed Ruth's pivotal role in the shooting, attempts a sinister coercion, inviting her to a disreputable resort under threat of exposure. However, his betrayal of the wounded Hardy—denying him his ill-gotten gains—ignites a vengeful uprising among the lumbermen, led by a revived Jerry. The ensuing pursuit culminates in a desperate chase, with Stocker meeting a dramatic, deserved end via a broken water chute. The timely arrival of Elihu Bennett, summoned by Ruth, ultimately rectifies the corporate malfeasance and paves the way for a union of love and justice between Ruth and Jerry, signaling a new dawn beyond the shadows of industrial greed.
Synopsis
Elihu Bennett represents the lumber monopoly and leads its fight to corral the standing timber in the Redwood forests of California. His daughter Ruth has, of her own desire, acquired a business education, including stenography. Her father objects to her working in his office, so she devotes her time to charitable purposes. One day she discovers a young man who has just separated two street fighters, being taken away with one of the fighters by a policeman. She intercedes and secures the young man's release. The man is Jerry Simpson, the son of one of the mountaineers who owns large and valuable tracts of timber which her father's business associates are trying to secure at an unreasonably low figure. Jerry, who has been studying law, goes to Bennett to make an appeal for justice. Ruth sees Jerry and at her request her father tells her who Jerry is and why he is in San Francisco. Jerry's mission is fruitless because Bennett decides to abide by the advice of Ferdinand Stocker, who represents the lumber monopoly in the Redwood forests. At her father's office, Ruth learns that Stocker needs a stenographer. This so interests Ruth that when a girl is selected from a number of applicants, Ruth prevails upon her, in return for money Ruth gives her, to surrender her credentials. Ruth goes to the lumber camp as the stenographer assuming Kitty Mitchell's name. It develops that Kitty Mitchell has deserted her children and husband, and this fact, being published in the San Francisco papers, comes to the eyes of Stocker. When Stocker makes advances to Ruth and is repulsed, he shows her the newspaper clipping and Ruth is silent. Ruth and Jerry become friends and he is her most enthusiastic assistant in establishing a library for the lumbermen. Bill Hardy is Stocker's foreman and Ruth learns that these two men are conspiring to rob her father by making false reports. Stocker determines to cut down "Old Sentinel," a famous landmark. The fact that the giant Redwood stands on Simpson's property does not alter Stocker's determination. Jerry tries to prevent by physical means the felling of the tree, but is unsuccessful. He is terribly beaten. Ruth has learned of the proposed raid upon Simpson's timber and goes to the scene in time to find Jerry lying almost insensible upon the ground. She revives him and gives him a revolver with which Jerry shoots and badly wounds Hardy, who is doing the work for Stocker. The next day inhabitants of the camp are mystified as to who shot Hardy. Stocker having witnessed the incident from his hiding place behind a tree knows that Ruth gave Jerry the revolver. He invites her to go with him to a questionable resort at another camp and have dinner, threatening unless she complies to expose her as the person who did the shooting. Ruth having consented, Stocker goes to his wounded confederate, Hardy, and tells him of his plans for taking Ruth to dinner. When Hardy asks Stocker for his share of the loot that has come from stealing the company's money, Stocker laughs at him, believing that Hardy, being wounded and helpless, cannot resent Stocker's refusal. When Stocker leaves with Ruth, Hardy alarms the lumber men. Jerry and the men quickly pursue Stocker and arrive just in time to save Ruth from Stocker's second and most vicious assault. Stocker, in escaping, uses a water chute down which timber is carried to the valley. There is a break in the chute through which Stocker falls to his destruction. In response to a letter Ruth has written, her father comes to the lumber camp, straightens out the difficulties and consents to Ruth's marriage to Jerry.
